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PENELOPE WEATHERVANE'S GRUMPY DAY

Name: PENELOPE WEATHERVANE'S GRUMPY DAY
Author: James Serafino
ISBN: 9781250350220

by James Serafino ; illustrated by James Serafino ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 22, 2025

An ultimately sunny exploration of turbulent emotions.

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Today’s forecast: cloudy with a chance of tantrums.

All set to have a picnic, Penelope Weathervane—a purple-eyed, pale-skinned girl with a cumulus cloud atop her head—looks out her window to see clouds gathering. It’s going to be a Grumpy Day. Things get worse by the minute as Penelope Weathervane trips over her shoelaces and discovers she’s out of cereal. Matching the bleak sky above, her once-white cloud hair turns dark gray, and soon rain and lightning take over. As she rages, more clouds surround her, and the tears come in a torrential downpour, causing a terrible flood. The tears subside, but Penelope Weathervane still sulks as a “fog of weariness [rolls] in.” Her black cat reminds her to take deep breaths until calm returns. Penelope Weathervane cleans up the mess, and soon the sun comes out just in time for the picnic. Serafino uses stormy weather as a metaphor for a bad mood—an inspired choice—and the occasional forecast charts (which report her emotions from “cranky” to “grouchy” to “grumpy”) are a fun touch. This is both a delightfully told story and a potential vehicle to help young readers understand big emotions. Soft, watercolorlike illustrations fittingly serve the biggest emotive set piece—Penelope Weathervane’s hair cloud—whether it appears tumultuous or placid.

An ultimately sunny exploration of turbulent emotions. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: July 22, 2025

ISBN: 9781250350220

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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GOOD NIGHT THOUGHTS
by Max Greenfield ; illustrated by James Serafino

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THIS LITTLE PIGGY
by James Serafino ; illustrated by James Serafino

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
A PERFECT PLACE TO PLAY
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Jim Valeri

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IT'S NOT EASY BEING A GHOST

From the It's Not Easy Being series

by Marilyn Sadler ; illustrated by Stephanie Laberis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 13, 2024

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet.

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A ghost longs to be scary, but none of the creepy personas she tries on fit.

Misty, a feline ghost with big green eyes and long whiskers, wants to be the frightening presence that her haunted house calls for, but sadly, she’s “too cute to be spooky.” She dons toilet paper to resemble a mummy, attempts to fly on a broom like a witch, and howls at the moon like a werewolf. Nothing works. She heads to a Halloween party dressed reluctantly as herself. When she arrives, her friends’ joyful screams reassure her that she’s great just as she is. Sadler’s message, though a familiar one, is delivered effectively in a charming, ghostly package. Misty truly is too precious to be frightening. Laberis depicts an endearingly spooky, all-animal cast—a frog witch, for instance, and a crocodilian mummy. Misty’s sidekick, a cheery little bat who lends support throughout, might be even more adorable than she is. Though Misty’s haunted house is filled with cobwebs and surrounded by jagged, leafless trees, the charming characters keep things from ever getting too frightening. The images will encourage lingering looks. Clearly, there’s plenty that makes Misty special just as she is—a takeaway that adults sharing the book with their little ones should be sure to drive home.

Too cute to be spooky indeed but most certainly sweet. (Picture book. 4-6)