Customer Reviews

Grumpy Gloria

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Grumpy Gloria, from the author of Llama Llama Red Pajama, is the story of a pouting bulldog who is upset that her special friend is devoting her attention to a new toy that she received for her birthday. As a result, Grumpy Gloria is not getting the attention she wants. Poor Gloria.

This is a book in which the story is told better through the illustrations. I did not feel that the simplistic rhyming text could stand alone without the illustrations. In fact, when I read the book to my five-year-old daughter the first time, she didn't understand why Gloria was so Grumpy. I had to point out some things in the illustrations before she understood what was going on. After my daughter understood the story line, she thought the book was nice, but not one that she wanted to read again. I would give the book an "A" for the illustrations, and a "B" for the text.

Bought this among many books for my babysitting cache. Told the grandchildren it was from our bulldogs. It turned out to be their favorite. The illustrations are striking. The 2 yr old loved the pictures, the four-year old's favorite saying was "Read it again, grandma". Did just that at least 10 times. I now have "Grumpy Gloria" committed to memory. They loved the book, and so did I. Wish their were more adventures.

I got this book because my son (and I!) absolutely love the Llama Llama books. I was expecting this to be similar, but in my opinion it is much less polished and much more amateurish. Which is not to say that it's sloppy, it just strikes me as the work of a less-experienced author. The narrative is repetitive (not in a clever way), the art, while very good, is less charming than the Llama art.

HOWEVER, I bought this book for my son, and that's the true test of things. He loves it. Just as much as Llama. He giggles as we read about the grumpy dog and points to his favorite pictures. And believe me, he's not an easy-grader.

So while I would have rated it two stars based on my opinion, I'm giving it four based on the tiny person who's opinion counts most.

The first book I read to my son by Anne Dewdney was Llama Llama Red Pajama. This book isn't quite as good but the story is very cute and my son still enjoyed it. It's not as easy for a toddler to follow the story with just the rhymes but the illustrations are great and provide an opportunity to discuss what's going on in the story.

We have purchased all of Anna Dewdney's books for our granddaughter and she loves them. Grumpy Gloria is another great book by Anna! Emmy can recite some of the verses herself, so she can read the book to us and it gives her such pride! The illustrations are beautiful and fun. We have a Chocolate Lab (named Libby) so Emmy can relate to Gloria's antics. Thanks for making reading so much fun - from a very appreciative Nonnie and Poppy!

My kids love this book. I checked it out for the class that I teach and ended up buying it, they have the whole book memorized. They love it so much and i think that its a great book.

From the Author of "Llama, Llama, Red Pajama" who couldn't love "Grumpy Gloria" - Excellent book!!!!!!! Easy reading for small children and excellent way to help children learn to express their feelings by what Gloria is going through. Fun book for all ages.

This book is great! I Have a 2 year old and she loves hearing this book over and over again!!

This book was really cute. It has the similar ryme of llama llama that my kid likes.
It tells a story of grumpy Gloria and the children that try to make her happy.

I love this author. We have all the Llama books and Nobunny's Perfect. Her books are clever, cute, have great illustrations and wonderful rhyming texts. Perhaps it is my love of the other books that makes me less enthused about Grumpy Gloria. While I must say that my son does enjoy this book (and I guess that's what really matters), the rhymes just aren't as well done. She just doesn't get as creative as she does in her other books. There are a couple of times where she just lists words that wind up rhyming (even if they don't really make sense in the context) rather than having an actual flowing text. The concept is cute and so are the illustrations, I just wasn't as excited about it as I was about the others which always make me smile.