The Unbudgeable Curmudgeon

November 15, 2018
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)

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June 28, 2019

PreS-Gr 1-Burgess's exploration of sibling grumpiness is playful and charming, while simultaneously demonstrating the perfect introduction to an advanced emotional concept and bonus vocabulary word. The word curmudgeon is defined on the endpapers as "A bad tempered, difficult, cranky person; a grouch." Woodcock's illustrations capture the shifting moods of a sister and brother through colorful reds and blues against a pale cream background. The artwork created using rubber stamps, stencils, and children's blow pens gives the appearance of movement and shifting perspectives in dreamy soft focus. The emotions loom large when big angry puffy red hair, claws, and sharp teeth take over the space on the page. The text includes strategies and suggestions to readers for how to approach the curmudgeon. While not always constructive, the trial-and-error approach is both entertaining and probably realistic. "...you could distract the curmudgeon by changing the subject...Look! A Chihuahua on roller skates!" Ultimately, as with any sibling relationship, the mercurial beastly moments seem to pass from brother to sister and back again. A long-suffering gray cat appears in most of the pages and adds humor through droll facial expressions and eye-rolling responses to the sibling shenanigans. VERDICT A solid purchase for larger collections. Readers will delight in the whimsical artwork and the comic but realistic relationship between siblings.-Eva Thaler-Sroussi, Wellesley Free Library, MA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2019
Preschool-G A young girl wants her backpack, but the strap is caught under the leg of the chair her grumpy brother is sitting on, and he won't move. She asks nicely, she tries to bribe him, she tries to distract him, and she even tries calling their mother for help, all to no avail. When she and her teasing sibling play tug-of-war with her pack, she falls down and becomes a grumpy curmudgeon herself just as he reverts to being a boy, at least for awhile. The colorful red, blue, and yellow illustrations are set on a white backdrop and are made from stencils, rubber stamps, and pencil. Children's blow pens were used to create shadows and a diffusion of color on the children's heads?she's a red-headed girl and he's a red-faced monster, until they switch roles. Single- and double-page spreads are interspersed with vignettes full of action. Playful language and a subtly rhyming text create an enjoyable read-aloud about frustrations and bad moods.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)