MELTDOWN!

A parent-child power struggle at the grocery story provokes the titular meltdown.

When Mom decides to bring her little daughter, Roxy (both anthropomorphic white rabbits), to the grocery story, she says “Roxy can help” her. Exuberant Roxy is excited about this prospect, but her antics suggest that her help will be…less than helpful. Sure enough, Roxy is a bit rough with the groceries, and after she goes running off with the cart, Mom straps her into the seat. But this doesn’t contain the mischief when, against her better instincts, Mom lets Roxy hold a boxed cake, and Roxy, with “a very determined smile,” demands to eat it then and there. The eponymous meltdown ensues! Mom is embarrassed, frustrated, and eager to get home as Roxy pitches a fit down the aisle, at the checkout, and during the walk home in her stroller. When an exasperated Mom asks “What do you say to Mommy?” at book’s end, the closing image shows Roxy offering, not an apology, but a prettied-up request for the contended cake: “…please?” Murphy’s colored-pencil–and-pen illustrations augment the humor of her text, which hinges on the dialogue between Mom and Roxy.

A slice-of-life toddler story that squarely maintains focus on the toddler.