Filled with word play and a character whose experiences will speak to young readers, this picture book shows how one animal faces her fears. Although Lily does many things quite well, she is a bit of a, well, a chicken and is reluctant to take many risks. Not only does she ride her bike with training wheels, never volunteers answers in class or tries eating any unfamiliar foods, but she is nervous about public speaking. (Undoubtedly, most youngsters have had to deal with at least one of these fears.) When her teacher plans a poetry jam, Lily tries to worm her way out of writing and reciting the poem, but eventually she summons up the courage to write a poem by approaching it as a puzzle, and everything goes just fine. As the author points out on the final page, Lily is still a chicken but has overcome at least one fear. Although I like the story very much, I wish there had been more tangible suggestions for how she managed to bring herself to perform publicly so that nervous public speakers might feel supported in their own fears. The illustrations, created with watercolor, pen, and ink are simple yet appealing and work well with this story, filled as it is with animals.