An Unexpected Thing 

 
　　弗雷德害怕所有事情，他不喜歡大的聲響，害怕影子，看到不認識的人就想躲起來。可可則活潑大膽，總是充滿好奇心，樂於嘗試各種新事物。有天，突然出現了一個巨大而充滿威脅性的黑點，弗雷德嚇死了，他想遍了各種可怕的可能性，只想躲起來，但可可一點也不怕，還熱情邀弗雷德到洞里探索……
 
　　透過個性截然不同的兩位小主角，看見事情的不同面向，鼓勵小讀者找到克服恐懼的勇氣，如果你願意踏出探索的腳步，也許會發現，害怕的事物其實沒有想像中可怕喔！
 
　　作者艾絲琳．琳賽（Ashling Lindsay）的首本繪本（The Night Box）即獲英國凱特格林威獎提名，並入圍英國水石童書獎。

　　An Unexpected Thing is a beautifully illustrated, touching children's picture book about facing fears, dealing with anxiety and learning to explore the world.

　　Fred is afraid. Of everything. He spends his days jumping at loud noises, recoiling from scary shadows and hiding from new people. So you can imagine how he felt when a huge, menacing spot appears as if from nowhere. Too terrified to do anything else, Fred hides away from the spot and imagines all the awful things it could be...

　　Luckily, Coco isn’t afraid of anything! She loves exploring new things and sees the best in every new experience that comes her way. When Coco sees the spot she knows that it must be something wonderful. And she’s going to find out what it is. And this time, Fred is going to come with her and face his fears once and for all.

　　This is a story of different perspectives, overcoming those feelings of worry and uneasiness, facing your fears and finding out that the world isn’t such a bad place afterall of all if you’re ready to explore.

　　Review
　　“Fred is afraid of everything in this story about facing your fears, making friends, and learning that the world isn’t such a scary place after all.” ― The Bookseller

　　‘Ideal for young readers […] facing your fears, dealing with anxiety, and learning to explore the world.’ ― The Belfast Telegraph

　　“perceptive, sensitive story […] great to have a beautiful book like this to refer to, reminding us that most things are what we make them.” ― BookTrust

Ashling Lindsay is an illustrator from Belfast, Northern Ireland. The first book she illustrated was called The Night Box and was written by Louise Greig. It has sold in 10 territories, been nominated for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Illustration award, shortlisted for the Waterstones Children's Book Prize, the Klaus Flugge Prize for illustration, Teach Primary Book Awards and AOI illustration award picturebook category. Ashling is currently working towards her MA at Belfast School of Art and authoring her own picture books. Ashling's clients include: Egmont, Little Tiger Press, Schwatz & Wade and many more.