From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-Each turn of the page brings a new day and a new mood. Be it excited or joyful, discouraged or confused, the little girl featured here has a litany of reasons to back up her ever-changing attitude. "Today I am cranky so nothing seems right. I have diarrhea and broke my new kite. Mom dyed her hair orange. My dad shaved his beard. My tooth came in crooked. This family is weird." The text is connected by its rhyme rather than its reason. There is so much unrelated jabber that the ideas become almost nonsensical and come across principally as a whine fest. The book does, however, show that "whatever I'm feeling inside is okay!" All of the moods are taken in stride with no judgments made. The emotions are childlike and their visual presentation is exuberant. The watercolor illustrations are splashy and expressive, but at times overpowering. Their loosely focused patchwork of color with little white space to rest the eye brings a busy confusion to the page, adding to the jumbled emotional roller coaster of the text.
Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Ages 4^-7. This colorful, energetic book, by the author-illustrator team that produced Tell Me Again about the Night I Was Born (1996), uses comedy to promote an understanding of common emotions. Each day a frizzy-haired young narrator acknowledges and describes a different feeling, relating it to her everyday world: "Today I feel silly. / Mom says it's the heat. / I put rouge on the cat / and gloves on my feet." The rhyming text should have solid child appeal, and although further explanation from an adult may be needed, Curtis does a competent job of capturing a sense of a number of complicated, sometimes similar feelings. The wild, vibrant watercolors occasionally overwhelm the text and aren't as successful in reflecting the emotions as the words are, but they are still a good deal of fun as they show the mercurial heroine coping with the ups and downs of life--usually with her goofy-looking striped cat by her side. An insert at the back of the book allows kids to identify their own "feeling of the day" by turning a cardboard wheel. For a less raucous take on the subject, try Aliki's Feelings (1984). Stephanie Zvirin
From Kirkus Reviews
The young narrator is a mood factory: one day silly, the next sad, then bouncing back with a joyful outlook. For the most part, the girl's briskly versified explanations for her moods are reactive. She is angry when her feelings are hurt after being snubbed, sad when she and her friend have a fight, confused by the prospects of a sibling, frustrated by failed attempts to Rollerblade, encouraged by success at knitting. Curtis (Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, also illustrated by Cornell, 1996, etc.) smartly includes a couple of moodsquiet, grumpythat have no obvious source, moods that perplex and even scare children, who need to know just how okay they are: ``Today I am quiet, my mom understands./She gave me two ice creams and then we held hands./We went to the movies and then had a bite./I cried just a little and then felt all right.'' Cornell's illustrations are a splash of candy colors, as expressive and inviting as the text. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
From the Back Cover
Today I feel silly. Mom says it's the heat.
I put rouge on the cat and gloves on my feet.
I ate noodles for breakfast and pancakes at night.
I dressed like a star and was quite a sight. Today I am sad, my mood's heavy and gray.
There's a frown on my face and it's been there all day.
My best friend and I had a really big fight.
She said that I tattled and I know that she's right.
Silly, cranky, excited, or sad--everyone has moods that can change each day. Jamie Lee Curtis's zany and touching verse, paired with Laura Cornell's whimsical and original illustrations, helps kids explore, identify, and, even have fun with their ever-changing moods.
Here's another inspired picture book from the bestselling author-illustrator team of Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born and When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth.
About the Author
Jamie Lee Curtis has had many firsts: her first (and only) marriage to Christopher Guest, her first time holding her children, Annie and Tom, her first time pretending to be a customer in an episode of Quincy, and her first time she wrote words that became her first book. She lives in Los Angeles, the first city she ever lived in, and is always first in line, first to arrive, first to leave, and first to sleep.
Laura Cornell lives in New York City with her daughter, Lily (first and only), but they spend much time in California, Laura's first state in her first home. She was asked to illustrate Jamie's first book, and that became ten. Lucky is the first word that comes to mind.
