From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2 Rosenthal enumerates ways in which a child's happiness can be squelched by a rotten day. The array of mishaps includes sibling and friendship problems, disappointing birthdays, itchy clothing, misplaced belongings, and self-doubt. Each unwelcome incident warrants a special designation. There's a Keep Spilling Stuff Day, a Nobody's Listening To You Day, a Gutter Ball Day, and a Not Big Enough Day. This succinct book is not a story but an imaginative list of calamities that culminates predictably with the promise that all bad days lead to a new dawn. The angst of the characters is rendered effectively through the partnership of Rosenthal's words and Doughty's cartoons, reminiscent of her illustrations in Harriet Ziefert's
39 Uses for a Friend (2001) and
31 Uses for a Mom (2003, both Putnam). The format of this humorous book will serve as an excellent springboard for students trying their own hands at writing about one of those days.
Gloria Koster, West School, New Canaan, CT Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
K-Gr. 3. Less intense than Judith Viorst's classic
Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (1972), this oddly reassuring picture book identifies days that qualify as "one of those days." From "Feeling Left Out Day" and "Itchy Sweater Day" to "Answer to Everything Is No Day," Rosenthal pinpoints 22 downers that will resonate with children. After the last bad day, "Sad for No Reason Day," the author notes that every day turns to night, and every night, inevitably, "turns into a brand new day." Economical, expressive, and just slightly bizarre, the spare ink drawings, filled in with opaque vinyl paint, stand out clearly against the stark white backgrounds of most of the pages. Using a multicultural cast of characters that changes from page to page, Doughty illustrates the children's mishaps and feelings with occasional wry humor and continual empathy. Reading this picture book aloud is a sure way to get children talking about some of "those days."
Carolyn PhelanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
