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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
A reflection on how moods come and go, and often we can shake a stick at them and make them move along more quickly.
The pictures and much of the story were quite sweet and quirky
But - some issues (as noted by others)
But - some issues (as noted by others)
Wonderful book to read with a small child during "bad moods".
Am I missing something that so many people liked it?
Concept starts funny enough if a little mean-but seriously-an angry white guy strips for a black woman and demands she clean his clothes? While he stands there in his underwear? How the heck did this get past an editor as okay? Shades of racism and sexism? WTF.
(I doubt anybody would be in a good mood if a guy strips off his clothes and demands they wash them while he stands there. Except possibly in circumstances not suited to a children's book...)
Now I've got the bad mood and I don't even have a stick.
Concept starts funny enough if a little mean-but seriously-an angry white guy strips for a black woman and demands she clean his clothes? While he stands there in his underwear? How the heck did this get past an editor as okay? Shades of racism and sexism? WTF.
(I doubt anybody would be in a good mood if a guy strips off his clothes and demands they wash them while he stands there. Except possibly in circumstances not suited to a children's book...)
Now I've got the bad mood and I don't even have a stick.
Kinda cute, but not sure that it's teaching good lessons (like if you take your pants off in the laundromat after being told not to, the lady who works there will like the way you look in your underwear so much you'll end up getting married). Art is excellent tho.
I really like the idea of a picture book tackling bad moods. However, I find the story of a man taking off his pants in a family dry cleaning business (even though he is asked not to) and standing around in his underwear a bit disturbing. However, I don't agree with another criticism in that the bad mood is always transferred to someone else because in the story it just flies out the window - though I guess it seems to find a cat or dog? I also think it is quite reasonable to think that a child's bad mood can change a parent's mood and that misery likes company. Not sure that I am brave enough to use this in a program and will have to see if I get any feedback from patrons.
Although this has been done before, Snicket's spare text & Forsythe's cheerful, expressive illustrations make this a wonderful picture book that not only gets the point across - that bad acts trigger bad moods, and bad moods are fleeting but not insignificant - but it's also entertaining enough.
As many other reviewers have noted, the problematic interaction between Old Man Lou and the dry cleaner Mrs. Durham really ruins this book. It wasn't a terribly engaging or inventive book to begin with, but when Lou takes off his pants after Mrs. Durham tells him not to, and she then finds it endearing rather than mortifying, that really did it for me. I don't think that this book will appeal to children or adults. The story is a bit confusing for kiddos, and most parents will be irked by the dry cleaner incident. The only thing I liked about this book was the adorable little "Bad Mood" cloud. I would have given this one star, but the illustrations were well done and deserve a much higher rating than the story itself.