How’s everyone feelin’ today?
I hope not grumpy!
I’m not one to get grumpy.
I’m more of a “sunny side of life” kind of gal.
My most recent grumpy episode was almost seven years ago now,
when I was firefighting in Arizona.
I was also the engineer and drove the fire truck.
The day I got the grumps was the day
we had to roll out ALL the hose and test it.
Someone needed to pump the water through those hoses,
well, some truck, and it ended up being mine.
But I didn’t want to do it.
I can’t remember why now,
just that I got VERY grumpy,
and the orders from the Chief were:
“Cheer Kathy Ellen up! Whatever it takes!”
I did get cheered up
(I think I was promised pizza maybe?)
and the hose all tested out well.
But I remember wanting to be grumpy for a while.
Sometimes you JUST need to be grumpy.
Like the goat in today’s book 🙂
Title: Grumpy Goat
Published by: Harper Collins, 2013
Written by: Brett Helquist
Illustrated by: Brett Helquist
Word Count: 353
Pages: 34
In one word: Change
In one sentence: Grumpy Goat is SO grumpy, until he discovers such a little thing that turns everything around…but will it last?
Favorite pages:
Also, lovely colors in the sky!
Likes:
- The shortness of the sentences when Goat is grumpy.
- Examples: “He was hungry. He was grumpy. He didn’t want to share.
- The length of the sentences when he’s happier:
- “Each evening Goat lay down to sleep on the top of the hill.
- Each morning he woke up looking forward to seeing his friends again.”
- The illustrations are awesome! I love the texture of them.
- And the zoom-ins of Goat’s face.
- The actual size of the book
Learns:
- grumpy doesn’t equal bad and happy doesn’t equal good. Everything’s a balance.
- books can be 34 pages. (who knew?)
- There are many great facial expressions that a goat can have!
- A simple thing, in this case, a dandelion, can turn a whole story around!
Also, today I’m going to get one of the prizes SIGNED!
It’s not a picture book, but it’s by Kate DiCamillo, so you know it’s awesome.
More news on all that tomorrow!
I’m a little behind on the comments
but I’ll make sure to comment back on all of them today.
THANK YOU so much for following the blog
so comments just appear without me having to do anything!
I love the discussions that have been happening about picture books in them!
Hope everyone has a good Friday
and,
happy reading!
KE and SS
I just read HOW BIG COULD YOUR PUMPKIN GROW? by Wendell Minor, 2013, Nancy Paulsen Books. This is a great book to stretch young kids’ imaginations. It also teaches synonyms for the word big, like colossal, stupendous, etc…
I haven’t had a grumpy day in a while, but that looks like a good book to cheer me up!
Sounds like a good book, Tina.
I love this season and pumpkins in general 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
Oh, yeah…I can be grumpy. Like about a half hour ago when I searched and searched for the measuring spoon for the coffee. Finally gave up — but gotta have my coffee — so I decided on another option and opened the coffee bag. And there was the scoop. (Grrrrr, oh husband o’ mine!)
But this challenge cheers me up! And I read early this morning. Here I am posting and it isn’t 10 p.m. YAY!
I’ve read GRUMPY GOAT twice and loved it both times. I like how it reminds us to count our blessings even in the little things.
Today I read BRIEF THIEF by Michael Escoffier, illustrated and translated from French by Kris Di Giacomo, 2013, Enchanted Lion Books.
It starts out like any other PB. Lizard is having breakfast, sunning himself afterward. By page four, the story takes a turn like I’ve never seen in a PB. Lizard has poo. The story begins to get into some technicalities. OH, NO, WHAT THE HECK?
I begin to wonder what editor received this ms and said, “Yes, this is the ms for me! I want to champion this one!” I wondered if the author sent the ms as a joke.
On page 11, it takes another surprising turn. A very satisflying turn. I imagined parents everywhere sighing in relief at this point.
I can’t tell you more about it except to say if you haven’t read this, you want to find it and read it soon. I’d love to hear your reactions to it.
P.S. I actually read this twice. Once to myself, once out loud to my coffee scoop hiding husband. He liked it.
I am intrigued Carol, will see if I can get the book at my library. Glad you found that coffee spoon 🙂
Hiding the scoop in the coffee bag is CLASSIC!
Sorry you got grumpy!
I’ve read “The Brief Thief.”
I thought it was hilarious!
I agree, there’s some turns that I wasn’t expecting,
but I think that’s the best part about it.
And the ending is the biggest twist of all!
I read “The Runaway Bunny.” I know I’ve been reading lots of classics so far, and so I will say that when it comes to children’s books, I absolutely LOVE classics and fairy tales. I will read some fairy tales for this month, too, but they will all be retellings which were published some time after 2008, the same cut-off year for all the non-classic books I’m reading.
Usually when I read “The Runaway Bunny” it makes me cry. It didn’t this time, and I think that was because I had read it relatively recently. That’s a good thing to keep in mind for when I read books to kids at daycare centers. If I’m afraid a book might make me cry, I’ll probably read it the night before to get all the tears out.
There’s another bunny book that makes me cry much more than “The Runaway Bunny.” Can you guess what it is? If not, you’ll just have to find out when it’s time!
Runaway Bunny is such a classic.
I’m not sure I’ve ever cried reading it,
but I’m not a huge crier so it’s not surprising.
Thanks for sharing!
How exciting! I am going to see Kate DiCamillo on Sunday when she is visiting Pasadena.
Today I read “Black Dog” by Levi Pinfold. It seems a good choice for this time of year. Makes you wonder what we should really be afraid of.
Oh I loved Black Dog!
Great book!
And how did meeting Kate go?
The book signing was great. The illustrator was also there, which is interesting considering how they worked (or didn’t work) together. He brought his dog, Lily who is a main character in one of the books he wrote and illustrated. It’s about hideous sweaters.
I told her how a squirrel once came down our chimney and hopped into bed where I was still sleeping. Needless to say, I am not a big fan of the bushy tailed rodent, although no one was harmed in the incident.
I borrowed your idea and wrote her a thank you note too. I didn’t make my own card. I just used some pretty stationery I had. I had a sister like William Spiver. Hardly anyone writes about kids like that.
I read “Bad Kitty” by Nick Bruel.
Oh Bad Kitty.
So good.
Thanks for sharing!
I read ‘Running with the Horses’ by Alison Lester, an Australian author/ illustrator. It was a picture book for older children, quite lengthy and at times dark. The illustrations though gave the story some light.
Sounds like an intriguing book.
I actually have a friend who trained horses in Australia who may like it!
Thanks for sharing!
I read Creepy Carrots by Aaron Reynolds. It was a fantastic spoof on a traditional ghost story. Hilarious and the illustrations are perfect!
Love Creepy Carrots! The kids think it’s funny and the illustrations are perfect!
Agreed!
Creepy Carrots is so fun!
It’s great to hear Peter Brown read it too…I think there’s a video out there somewhere of it 🙂
Grumpy Goat sounds very cute! Thanks for the great book recommendations so far! Fun. 🙂
Today I read Little Hoot by Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This one is about an owl whose parents are making him stay up late – owl kids have to stay up late, in order to become a wise old owl. Little Hoot isn’t happy about it, but they tell him, okay you only have to stay up one more hour. LOL. 🙂 It’s a neat twist on a bedtime story. The illustrations are super cute.
I adore Little Hoot,
And little pea,
And little Oink.
I love how they turn the genre upside down almost 🙂
Thanks for sharing!
We read “Boy and Bot” by Ame Dykeman and adorably illustrated by Dan Yaccarino. We discovered this book when it was featured during PiBoIdMo last year. It has ranked as a bedtime favorite ever since. The book is a sweet story of an unlikely friendship. The best pages are when Boy and Bot follow the same actions, but with their own “Boyish” and ‘Botish” spin!
Yay for Boy And Bot!
I’ve got that one (a signed copy I won in a giveaway)
and adore it.
That’s impressive that it’s a bedtime favorite still!
Thanks for sharing!
I read “The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane!” I LOVE this book! As you will see from some of my future choices this month, I am a sucker for stories about come to life toys. (Can you guess which bunny book makes me cry now)? Anyway, it would be AWESOME to win this signed copy!
My crankiness makes me want to read for myself how this little goat gets over it!
I read G IS FOR GOLDEN: A CALIFORNIA ALPHABET by David Domeniconi. I have a thing for ABC books and like how each page gives a small amount of historical info, perfect for an introduction.
This one sounds great!
I love ABC books too, and since my family isn’t from California,
but there are little nieces now,
it would be good for them to learn a little bit about where I live.
Thanks for sharing!
Today I read “Hopalong Jack and the Blue Bunnies.” It’s a wonderful story of being special and unique, but what really makes it take the carrot cake is its beautiful illustrations. These illustrations are among the most detailed I’ve ever seen in a children’s book. They depict a very elaborate bunny community both in the forest and underground.
This particular copy I got signed from the author (who’s also the illustrator) at a crafts fair. She wrote: “Writers are always welcome in our hollow as long as they eat their peas.”
Sounds very sweet.
I love your knowledge of bunny picture books!
Yeah, I love books about bunnies! I will read several more this month. It seems to me that the three most commonly anthropomorphized animals in children’s books are bunnies, bears, and mice. I have two more books to read about teddy bears, and I will read some about mice, too.
My TBR list is getting pretty long and it is only day 4!
Today I read KUMAK’S FISH: A Tall Tale from the Far North by Michael Bania.
Summary: On a beautiful Arctic morning when Kumak and his family go ice fishing, Kumak hooks what seems like an enormous fish, and the entire village gets involved.
Great illustrations and cumulative text bring to life a traditional Inuit tall tale.
Never heard of this one Cathy,
Thanks for sharing!
Sounds intriguing!