Overcoming fear is not always easy. Understanding that everyone fears something helps children accept the challenge.

Garmann is about to start first grade, and he is scared. He is yet to lose any of his teeth, and he is concerned. His elderly aunts are coming to visit, and he is worried that they will soon be going to heaven. So he asks questions.

Everything changes, and summer will soon be over. The elderly aunts are shrinking, and Garmann is nearly as tall as they are. Garmann asks one if she was ever a child, to which she giggles and replies, "One hundred and fifty years ago!"

He asks if she is afraid of dying. She replies with an honest answer that leaves him thinking in realistic but wondrous ways.

Another aunt admits she is afraid of the winter, and Garmann wonders how anyone could be afraid of making snowmen, sledding and sipping hot chocolate.

The last aunt can't remember what she is afraid of, and Garmann thinks that this might be a good thing.

Witnessing the death of a bird in the hedge, the boy finds a way to deal with change using the knowledge his elderly aunt passed to him. He takes control of his fear of the first day of school and makes preparations to face it.

He is growing up right in front of the reader.

The story is so well-told that I felt I was watching a young man experiencing life. My favorite part, and least favorite part, of being a parent is in watching those moments when kids grow and learn; it is bittersweet.

Author Stian Hole portrays Garmann perfectly as a 6-year-old boy. The character's point of view is joyously one of childhood in his perceptions of life around him, from his aunt's false teeth to the hidden passageways of the privacy hedge.

The illustrations in this book are fabulously different and captivating. The whimsical cutouts and photographic-quality drawings are intriguing.

Children will be entranced by the art while relating to the boy, and the subtle lessons will surely be passed through to listeners and readers alike.