Succotash Pudding deals with meeting our fears head-on. Whether that fear is real or imagined, we need to move forward and tackle it. Baseless fears can overwhelm us and make life miserable for us. So we need to be brave and strong and willing to do what's necessary to overcome those fears. That's exactly what Ned does in this book. Ned teaches children that it's OK to be concerned about new experiences. But Ned also teaches children that sometimes we make a big deal out of nothing for no reason at all.