Explorations of bad moods can be potent source material, but this jumbled attempt will give curmudgeons one more thing to...
Grouchy siblings try to shake each other in and out of bad moods.
Bouncing, irregularly rhyming text that pops with soft-G sounds explores the different ways of getting someone out of a grump-spiral. “You might ask the curmudgeon / if he wouldn’t mind scooching / over a smidgen.” Or: “Hugs can budge curmudgeons,” and if all else fails, “Some say, / ‘If you can’t budge ’em, / join ’em.” The curmudgeon (defined in the beginning as “A bad-tempered, difficult, cranky person”) looks like a fanged and furry orange monster that slowly distills into a white child with red hair as their mood improves. Their sibling, initially presented as human, then begins their own transformation as their mood sours, growing fangs and fuzzy, clawful paws. The art in this story is rich and satisfying, created with stamps and blow pens, and it practically bursts off the page. The text is less engaging, sometimes feeling contrived and other times cloying or preachy. The thin story closes with “It can be tricky / to get the gunk off / the funkiest funks, / but once a curmudgeon / begins to budge… // …you’d be surprised how quickly… / the grouchiness can vanish!” It’s an awfully chipper signoff for a book that’s supposedly about inveterate grumps. The siblings, with red hair that matches the curmudgeon’s fuzz, both present white.
Explorations of bad moods can be potent source material, but this jumbled attempt will give curmudgeons one more thing to complain about. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-399-55662-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
A playful, funny, and heartfelt tale to soothe the back-to-school blues.
A young lycanthrope frets about the first night of school.
It’s time for Sophie to head off to howlergarten for her first full moon—but what if she fails to transform into a werewolf like her parents? She worries about being away from her parents, too, but she meets new friends, participates in werewolf training (which entails tracking scents, moving like a wolf, and listening “to the whispers of the wind”), and survives her first full moon. Warm and empathetic Sophie even offers reassurance to a classmate who doesn’t transform. Shum’s story is a sweetly encouraging and appealing take on the perennial topic of first-day-of-school jitters. Though the book features werewolves, Sophie is relatable, her concerns—separation anxiety, fears that she won’t fit in or do well at school—likely to resonate with many youngsters. The illustrations alternate between full- and half-page spreads and vignettes; the use of panels on one page gives the book the feel of comics. Though the main characters are werewolves, they’re nevertheless an endearing bunch, sweet and furry, with oversized round heads and sturdy bodies. One adorable scene shows Sophie and the other children at howlergarten snoozing, curled up like pups rather than kids. Sophie’s mom has dark brown skin, while Sophie and her father are tan-skinned. The howlergarten students are diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
A playful, funny, and heartfelt tale to soothe the back-to-school blues. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Aug. 8, 2023
ISBN: 9780593521274
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Penguin Workshop
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2023
A few moments shine, but all in all an overstuffed effort.
What with keeping the fridge stocked with slug mush and sour green milk, incidentals such as mud soap and fang paste seem downright ordinary—unlike the consequences of ignoring the emphatic “Don’t”s populating this unorthodox DIY manual: “massive monster tantrums.”
The six-step bedtime instructions are scrawled on wide-ruled school paper, detailing the biracial bunny-slippered protagonist’s superior strategizing skills. If the detailed formula is rigidly adhered to, the rowdy monster will allow itself to go from a soothing ice bath to bedtime story to screeching lullaby to, finally, sleep. OHora’s signature color palette and tongue-in-cheek retro illustrations with a matte finish bring Vega’s uneven story to uproarious life. The sheep sandwich heading for the cavernous maw looks appropriately terrified, in contrast to the tiny terrier worrying the gigantic, furred monster’s knees. From the parents (a shell-shocked black mom cradles her cringing white husband) to the exuberant grizzly-sized, pom-pom–sporting, rainbow-striped monster, the delightful characters revolve around a no-nonsense, brown-skinned child rocking her own pom-pom ’do. Regrettably, Vega tries too hard to be cute. There is a game of “toss-the-slime-ball,” the information that “monsters hate milk unless it’s sour and green and smells like dirty underwear,” and instructions to “read the freakiest, creepiest, scariest story from your bookshelf—screaming where appropriate”—it’s all just too much.
A few moments shine, but all in all an overstuffed effort. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: March 14, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-49655-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
