The Wrong Side of the Bed

December 21, 2015
In this madcap riff on the having-a-bad-day theme, a girl named Lucy awakens with tangled hair, must snuggle with the porcupine that has shown up in her bed, can locate only one slipper and no matching socks (meanwhile, an octopus in her room unearths eight identical argyles), and a bear makes a stain worse by licking the syrup Lucy has spilled on herself. “Evidently, it was a sticky stain, mismatched socks, very prickly, one bunny slipper sort of day,” writes Bakos (May God Bless You with an Angel). Ensuing mishaps add animals and entries to the tally of how badly Lucy’s day is going. While Lucy’s scowl persists, Raff’s (Zora’s Zucchini) mixed-media art, muted only in its pastel palette, shows her oblivious, unruly companions merrily creating mayhem. Lucy’s day ends as unpleasantly as it started, but when morning arrives, Bakos hints that flexibility can help conquer a bad day—when life gives you one slipper, she suggests, maybe reach for your galoshes instead. Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Melissa Sarver White, Folio Literary Management. Illustrator’s agent: Marcia Wernick, Wernick & Pratt Agency.

January 1, 2016
A menagerie of mayhem-causing animals causes Lucy to have a very bad day. When Lucy wakes up, her hair is mussed, her pajamas are rumpled, and she can find only one bunny slipper. She knows today will be rough. Before she can even eat breakfast, she finds a prickly porcupine in her bed, and an octopus has taken all of the good socks from her sock drawer. Then there's a bear who smears her with sticky syrup, an elephant who rides on her bicycle's handlebars, and a hippopotamus who wears all of the tutus at ballet. Each new animal-driven misery adds to the cumulative refrain, ultimately causing Lucy to have a "feathers everywhere, / no toothbrush, / smelly bubbles, / eat your broccoli, / late for ballet, / miss the bus, sticky stain, / mismatched socks, very prickly, / one bunny slipper sort of day." The repetition can be fun, but there are oddly chosen italicized words throughout the text where emphasis intrudes instead of enhances. In fact, the bouncy refrain on each recto jars against the facing page's uneven exposition. Raff's sumi ink washes are muted and flat, though Lucy's springy hair delights. (Lucy is white.) While this certainly does not compare to Alexander's epically bad day, Lucy's may make some readers smile. (Picture book. 3-6)

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