The Day No One Was Angry

Gr 2–5—Handsomely produced on thick paper with full-color, expressive illustrations by the popular Parisian illustrator, cartoonist, and graphic artist, this collection of 12 stories is billed as being "funny" and "philosophical," showing that "anger—in all its shapes and sizes—is essential, spirited, and often hilarious." A hyrax is frustrated and angry every evening when the sun sets, despite his yelling until he is hoarse, "Don't set!" A determined elephant attempts to climb a tree even though an inner voice discourages him. He almost reaches the top but trips and falls. "I'm a lost cause," he admits to himself as an enormous bump appears on the back of his head. An earthworm and a beetle argue over which of them is angrier. From his suitcase, a lobster shows a mouse all of the different types of anger he has for sale—from mild irritation to jealousy and fury. The mouse decides to purchase the light blue, transparent melancholy instead. A shrew unsuccessfully tries to make his friend squirrel angry. Ant suggests all sorts of ways that toad can get rid of his anger—blow it away, crush it, forget about it, swallow it, hide it, sing it away, laugh it off, or nurse it. And, when the day comes when all traces of anger seem to have disappeared, the animals don't know what to do and the ant "fears the worst." But when a cricket accidentally kicks Rhinoceros's knee, angry words return and "everyone went home promising themselves a good bout of anger that night." This is not the way that typical American picture books have explored anger for children, and much of the subtle humor and emotional truths will be elusive to them, even with adult intervention.