When Sophie Thinks She Can't...

October 15, 2017
Sophie gets really, really discouraged. Bang's latest offering about blonde, white, emotive Sophie promotes a growth mindset as it details her shift from discouragement to perseverance. While the expressive style of Bang's vibrant, gouache paintings will be familiar to those who know the previous Sophie titles (When Sophie Gets Angry--Really, Really Angry..., 1999, etc.), this story seems more text-heavy than its predecessors. This difference isn't detrimental to the book, however, which begins with a hurtful experience at home. This causes Sophie to adopt a fixed mindset that she isn't smart enough to succeed in school when her teacher presents a math problem. Sophie's friends also struggle, and then their teacher introduces them to "the Most Important Word...YET. You haven't figured it out...YET." These interactions take place in a classroom populated by diverse students and led by a black teacher, and with her encouragement, Sophie and her classmates keep working to solve the problem in their own ways. The resulting shift to a growth mindset makes them believe they can make progress in their learning. Their teacher celebrates their success at the book's end, and then Sophie brings her newfound confidence home and uses it to help her father work through a project that's stumped him. Like the Little Engine before her, Sophie now thinks she can, and that makes all the difference. Bang explains the concepts and her collaboration with educator Stern in an author's note. Sure to be a staple in classrooms everywhere. (Picture book. 3-7)

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November 13, 2017
Sophie, the blonde child first seen in Bang’s Caldecott Honor–winning When Sophie Gets Angry—Really, Really Angry..., struggles with self-confidence and problem-solving in her third picture book. After her sister ridicules her for
not being smart (Sophie is having trouble with a tangram puzzle), Sophie carries her negative emotions to school. Teacher Ms. Mulry explains to the students that people aren’t “born smart,” but become so by exercising their brains. Bang’s kinetic art conveys Sophie’s frustration through her furrowed brow and smudgy, downturned lips; orange and yellow outlines—a trademark of Bang’s art—and bright, busy patterns suggest an overstimulating world. As Sophie and other students tackle a math puzzle that involves turning small squares into large rectangles, Bang gently reminds readers that learning is a gradual process, not a destination. Ages 4–8.

January 1, 2018

POPGr 1-3-Bang and her eponymous character have guided children through the emotional ups and downs of When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry and When Sophie's Feelings Are Really, Really Hurt, now address frustration and feelings of inadequacy when the child is unable to complete a tangram puzzle at home, then a math challenge at school. However, under the guidance of a teacher with a positive, can-do attitude who encourages her students to try harder and use the word "yet" when faced with a difficult challenge (as in, "I haven't solved it yet"), Sophie and classmates are introduced to a growth mind-set approach to problem solving. Readers and listeners can attempt to try the puzzle on their own ("build a bigger rectangle out of twelve small squares"), and will observe that there is more than one way to solve this particular challenge (and perhaps others) as evidenced in the story. As in other titles by this author/illustrator, vibrant colors form the backdrop of many spreads and the figures, outlined in these yellow, red, or green, radiate energy and emotion. An author's note discusses the book's origin and explains the difference between "fixed" and "growth" mind-sets. Endpapers include a picture of a tangram and a definition, and some of the animal shapes said to have been created "from traditional tangram puzzle pieces." VERDICT While purposeful, this book belongs on classroom and school library shelves and should be shared, especially with children who are easily frustrated.-Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal

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