From Publishers Weekly
Gloomy feelings don't stand a chance in this snappy picture book about a woman who kicks a dreary little funk with her can-do spirit. When Mrs. Biddlebox wakes up on the wrong side of her bunk, the morning looks gray: The birds gave her a headache./ There were creakies in her chair. With only some bitter tea and some hard-to-chew crumpets for breakfast, Mrs. Biddlebox quickly decides to set things to rights the best way she knows: I will cook this rotten morning/ I will turn it into cake! Her off-the-cuff recipe calls for whisking the dark and dull clouds, fog and all into a great pot before shaping it into a crumbly delight. Satiated by her sweet treat, Mrs. Biddlebox toddles off for a restful night s sleep. In the rhyming text inspired by the late Smith's (When Moon Fell Down) battle with cancer, positive thinking prevails, setting off a satisfying chain of events. The jaunty rhythm of Smith's words captures the energy of her protagonist s out-of-the-box thinking and sheer determination. Young readers may well come away with a new zeal for their own endeavors. Frazee (The Seven Silly Eaters) uses pencil lines and cross-hatching to dramatic effect in depicting Mrs. Biddlebox's dark surroundings. Swirls of white and spindly gold-yellow let the sun in at just the right moment. Memorable scenes include a spread featuring the ample-bottomed baker dancing around the oven, her frizzy pigtail bopping along. Ages 4-8.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 1-3-Poor Mrs. Biddlebox gets up on the wrong side of the bunk. In the throes of a "dreary little funk," she has an idea: "I will cook this rotten morning!/I will turn it into cake!/I will fire up my oven!/I will set the day to bake!" She gathers up the gloom and after twirling fog like spaghetti and rolling up the sky like carpeting, she bakes the entire bad day and eats it. "Now with her belly full of crumblies/And her nighty cap pulled tight,/She threw the door wide open/And welcomed in the night!" Frazee's dramatic illustrations slather the pages in black and gray with subtle color highlights and eerie swirls of white. If gloom and doom have a face, this could be it. However, the depictions are not without humor. Mrs. B. is a determined little witch with a great shock of frizzled ponytail. She gleefully struts around the baking bad day and devours it greedily. While the book looks like a Halloween title, its overarching theme is one of empowerment by facing one's troubles squarely.
Mary Ann Carcich, Mattituck-Laurel Public Library, Mattituck, NYCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
