Nadine is a fearless cow. She boasts to her friends that she’s not afraid of anything — not lightning, not loud noises, not a rat. And especially not the woods! To prove it, she suggests to her friends Annette and Starla that they all go on an outing (she’s sure they’ll say no). Two minutes later, facing the dark woods, Nadine starts to regret her brash words. With a page turn, three hours have passed and Nadine, Annette, and Starla are all high in the branches of a pine tree examining a bird nest. Nadine has conquered her trepidation and she revels in all the woods have to offer. The scents! The tastes! And her declaration of bravery has been validated — until it starts to get dark. Nadine eventually returns to the barnyard unscathed and with an (undeserved) new title: Brave Nadine. Watercolor, pencil, crayon, and collage illustrations are especially effective when they show plump Nadine fleeing the woods’ terrors in wide-eyed panic. The clever rhyming text pokes gentle fun at Nadine’s inflated sense of self and her ability to spin perceptions to her advantage. (Ages 3–7)

A high-stakes adventure and hilarious ode to self-esteem for fans of Oliver Jeffers, Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, and Louise, The Adventures of a Chicken.

Nadine can talk a blue streak, and one day she tells a real whopper: she isn't afraid of anything--no siree! Then her friends call her bluff, and Nadine must enter. . .The Deep. Dark. Woods. Only the woods aren't so scary after all, until the sun sets, that is, and Nadine can't find her friends. What is this boastful bovine to do? Run around in blind terror? Plummet off a cliff? Crash into a stream? Check, check, and check. But is all lost? Doubtful. After all, she is cow, hear her MOOOOOOOOO!