Bad Day

PreS-Gr 1–Sometimes you just get overwhelmed by the day. In the first six pages of this book, young Hennie hugs his arms tight, locks his feelings away, shuts the door, leaves his teddy bear on the floor, and hides behind a frowning paper bag face. He doesn’t want comfort or understand why today was so very bad. The day started uncomfortably with a bumpy ride and lumpy socks, progressing to bad with a lost favorite spoon, lunch that sent him to the nurse, and a “yell-y” teacher, and then became downright horrible when he couldn’t tie laces and fell amid the mocking, laughing faces of his classmates. Life feels better alone. But time alone also allows the opportunity to think about feelings, decide what is important, and realize “I’ll be okay.” Pen/ink illustrations reveal the young boy as he reproduces his round cartoon face on the paper bag and shows his frustration in a meltdown of emotions. Action stops when he feels “blue”—with pages tinted to match his mood, other colors disappear—a time to think, reflect, and verbalize his feelings.