Ollie is regularly bullied by two boys at school. Simon and George make him give them his lunch money, and one day they demand his new trainers. This is really a problem, because his single mum works hard for money to keep them going, and trainers are expensive. Ollie is very sad and fearful and doesn't know what to do. He can't tell a teacher because the two boys have threatened him if he does, and he can't tell his mum either because she will worry. The care home where his mum works has lots of 'grandmas and grandpas' who make much of him when he visits, and one in particular, Mr Wilcox, is a great friend because they both love football. In the allegory which follows, Ollie learns from Mr Wilcox all about his own 'superpowers'. These are the little people who live inside Ollie, who represent all the different emotions and feelings that Ollie has. Mr Wilcox is the one person Ollie can talk to, and when he tells about the purloined trainers, Mr Wilcox shows him 'the Captain', the leader of all Ollie's feelings. The Captain is in charge, and that means that Ollie will be too. He can learn to replace 'nervous' with 'confidence', 'scared' with 'happy' or 'safe', and any number of other feelings and emotions can be regulated in this way. Furthermore, they can get bigger or smaller, and it is up to Captain Ollie to decide what is uppermost in his mind. Next day, Ollie gets his trainers back by replacing nervousness and fear with 'Bravery, Strength and Calm', and calmly walks up to Simon and politely asks for the trainers. The two bullies are so astounded that they comply, and the school cheers! A further chapter has Mr Wilcox take Ollie into the Library inside his brain, where they see the boxes with all the things in them neatly catagorised that Ollie has learned. He understands then that everything is there and that he only needs to retrieve the information he needs. This is a unique approach to learning how to cope with strong and difficult emotions, but Ms Knowles has used it successfully with parents, children, schools, and even the police. It's an interesting story, and Ollie is an engaging boy. Children will enjoy the story and the bright illustrations that go with it, but I should think a trained therapist would be needed to use the book most effectively. Available from Amazon, from good book shops, and from the publisher at www.jkp.com.