Defense Mechanisms! Playing Possum by Jennifer Black Reinhardt

ALFRED WAS A POSSUM, AND WHEN A POSSUM FEELS NERVOUS, IT FREEZES AND PLAYS DEAD.

The well-known defense mechanism of freezing in place among possums is a real problem for Alfred in school. Taking tests and answering questions out loud leave him stiff as a board. To try to make friends is unthinkable. But one day he discovers he is not alone.

Sofia is an armadillo. When an armadillo feels anxious, it rolls into a ball. And when Sofia sees Alfred looking at her in the the library, she curls up, nose to tail and stays that way for a while. That makes Alfred so nervous that he falls down flat and still, too. But in the quiet of the library, no one notices, and when the two shrinking violets grow calmer, they relax.

THEY REALIZED THAT THEY HAD SOMETHING IN COMMON.

SO! Alfred and Sofia realize that they are not the only ones who become immobilized by anxiety! Little by little, they get used to each other's strange behaviors. Of course, it take a lot of patience to be friends, but they make the best of it. Sofia uses Alfred's stiff, outstretched arms to hold her yarn while she knits. Alfred doodles on his drawing pad while Sofia curls into a ball beside him.

And then they make a real discovery. Other animals use the same defense to react to anxious feelings. Fainting goats flop over flat when frightened. Tortoises withdraw all their moving parts into their shells. Hedgehogs go all roly-poly, and blowfish puff up into prickle-ish globes with fins. Porcupines sling spines and skunks shoot stink. Chameleons and octopi change their skins into camouflage colors!

And then--what if others who feel anxious just don't show it on the outside, but feel it very much on the inside? That's a comforting thought that makes new situations easier to manage.

Handling fears and social anxieties that come with going to school and a lot of other life situations is the serious subject of Jennifer Black Reinhardt's latest,  Playing Possum (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Clarion), 2020). Author-illustrator Reinhardt's low-keyed narration is set off beautifully and with humor in her charmingly comic but lovely mixed media  illustrations in this reassuring story for youngsters who find the mixing and mingling of life intimidating. Reinhardt rounds out this lively read-aloud with an informational picture glossary of her featured supporting cast of scaredy-cat critters. 

Says Publishers Weekly, "The author’s minimal text leaves the primary storytelling role to her gently dappled, luminous mixed-media art, which features springtime hues and an anthropomorphized cast. Notes on the spotlighted animals’ self-protective behaviors cap this sensitive tale."