A young boy badly wants to be a hero – but what kind?
Hector loves heroes more than anything else, and wants to be one very badly. But the various heroic options he considers – lifeguard, firefighter, doctor – are not for him, and when he tries to be a superhero, he can’t find anyone who needs saving. But when he comes home, dejected and feeling out of options, he finds that heroism can lie in small deeds as well as large ones, and that there just might be a hero inside of him after all.
This is a charming little story about a boy with a big heart, who wants to be someone others look up to and respect for his good deeds. It’s a short picture book, suited for very young readers, with about 40 pages, each containing a sentence or two of narration, sometimes another sentence or two of Hector’s thoughts and imagination, and a colorful image. The illustrations are bright and vivid, and both Hector and his faithful dog are given appealing facial expressions and clear personalities. Hector is presented sympathetically, as a character kids can relate to, and his consideration of his options manages to be funny but not judgmental – even if he’s afraid of swimming, fire and shots, he can still find a way to be a hero. The story’s moral is simply and gently presented without patronizing or lecturing, and leaves room for kids to think about all the little ways they can find to be genuinely helpful to other people without needing to be big or powerful or endowed with superpowers.
HECTOR’S HEROIC DAY is a warm and gently encouraging book that teaches kids to find the real heroism in day-to-day acts of kindness.
~IndieReader