Great Show-and-Tell Disaster, The

Reach for this book when your child feels paralyzed by the pressure to be 'impressive' or 'perfect' in front of their peers. It is an ideal choice for the elementary student who worries that their natural talents are not enough and feels the need to exaggerate or overachieve to fit in. The story follows Ned, a boy so desperate for show-and-tell glory that he invents a Mix-Up Ray, only for his creation to cause chaotic, rhyming mayhem when it starts scrambling the world around him. While the plot is rooted in absurdist science fiction, the emotional heart of the book deals with the anxiety of performance and the unintended consequences of trying too hard to show off. Parents will appreciate the clever use of anagrams and wordplay, which turns a lesson about humility into a fun vocabulary exercise. It is a lighthearted, zany read that helps de-escalate school-related stress by showing that even a total disaster can be pretty funny.