Sometimes I Kaploom

Katie Honors is a really brave kid. She can go to bed with just one small night light. She can hold her tears in when it’s time to say goodbye to her mom at school. But sometimes Katie isn’t ready to say goodbye and doesn’t feel brave at all. When this happens, she Kaplooms! She refuses to let go of her mom, and everything is flurried as she begins to cry. Her emotions feel frightening. It’s not the Katie Honors she wants to be. But her mother assures Katie that she can be both brave and sad, brave and crying, brave and scared.

Sometimes I Kaploom masterfully explores how hard it can be for children when they’re nervous or scared and have to transition to new places and faces when they just don’t feel quite ready. In another poignant, honest, and insightful story, readers learn along with Katie that bravery and fear are not mutually exclusive.

Rachel Vail is the author of many beloved picture books and novels, including Righty and Lefty, Jibberwillies at Night, Sometimes I'm Bombaloo, the Mama Rex & T series, Lucky, and You, Maybe. Rachel loves talking with kids -- hearing their stories and reactions, discussing their hopes and their worries. She get many of her ideas from the letters she receives. Rachel lives in New York City with her husband and her two sons. Visit rachelvail.com.

Hyewon Yum is the author and illustrator of many acclaimed picture books, including Mom, It's My First Day of Kindergarten!, which received the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator award and was selected as a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. She lives in Brooklyn, New York. Visit Hyewon online at hyewonyum.com.