What Are You So Grumpy About?

( 12 )

Overview

Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?
Were all your favorite clothes in the laundry?
Did your brother/sister TOUCH you?

What Are You So Grumpy About? takes all the tiny (or not so tiny) things that can annoy you and makes them funny instead. Tom Lichtenheld's colorful, laugh-out-loud images are full of fantastic details that will be a hit with readers of all ages. A ...

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More About This Book

Overview

Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?
Were all your favorite clothes in the laundry?
Did your brother/sister TOUCH you?

What Are You So Grumpy About? takes all the tiny (or not so tiny) things that can annoy you and makes them funny instead. Tom Lichtenheld's colorful, laugh-out-loud images are full of fantastic details that will be a hit with readers of all ages. A surprise ending makes this book perfect for the grump in every family.

Tom Lichtenheld has been in a bad mood only once, when his brothers got new boxing gloves and all he got was, well, grumpy. But he got over it and went on to write and illustrate this book, which is certainly nothing to be grumpy about.

A collection of cartoons that present various reasons for being grumpy, such as eating "grown-up" cereal, getting a boring birthday present, doing chores, and being touched by your brother or sister.

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Editorial Reviews

From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble Review
Turn that frown upside down with this sidesplitting take on grumpiness from the creator of Everything I Know About Pirates.

In energizing illustrations bursting with silly expressions and playful lines, each hilarious page asks young, grumpy readers what might have caused their sour pusses. "Did your brother/sister touch you?" shows an "enlarged view to show full grossness" of germs, cooties, and general icky stuff leaping from your sibling's finger onto your body. "Did your gravy touch your peas?" has horrified vegetables being flooded by oozing gravy ("gravy + peas = poison"). But whether it's somebody leaving "the toilet seat up and you didn't notice" (resulting in a kid falling in) or Dad taking "you to the most boring museum in the universe," of course the absolute worst thing is when somebody makes "you laugh when you were trying to be grumpy...and you forgot what you were grumpy about."

Whatever the cause of any child's grouchy demeanor, Lichtenheld will surely plant a smile on their face! The author's hilarious and wise questions will keep crabby kids nodding in understanding, while his eye-popping illustrations are sure to have them scanning the pages and giggling out loud. With this grump antidote in hand, kids' bad moods definitely won't get the best of them. Matt Warner

Publishers Weekly
In this light, playful caper, Lichtenheld (Everything I Know About Pirates) follows up the title's query with a series of others that pose possible causes for the characters' irritable affect. Each outlandish, humorously exaggerated illustration, outlined in thick black strokes to emphasize the cartoonish scenarios, make the case for the victims' foul mood. For "Did somebody leave the toilet seat up and you didn't notice?" the accompanying two spreads depict two feet sticking up from inside the toilet bowl, followed by the resulting shrunken outfit the boy wears. "Did your gravy touch your peas?" shows terrified animated peas awash in a wave of gravy on a dinner plate, screaming "Flood!" and "Every pea for himself!" Other indignities that warrant grumpiness include parents forgetting to buy a child's favorite cereal ("Chocolate-frosted, Honey glazed, Pre-sweetened Marshmallow Nodules"), forcing him or her to eat the parents' "Boring Acres" ("No fat,... no sugar,... no fun" reads the cereal box); and a list of "about a million" chores, among them training the cat to fetch the paper and counting the leaves on trees. Lichtenheld's tale will appeal to kids with its on-target childhood humiliations and degradations. And parents may be pleased to see the way it takes the edge off most cases of discontent-especially with its gentle punchline. All ages. (Apr.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
School Library Journal
Gr 1-4-From the endpapers touting the "Sure Cures for Grumpiness" to the zany situations pictured throughout the text, Lichtenheld's full-color spreads show the many possible causes of grumpiness in a child's world. The range is wide, from stubbing a toe or having to eat "grown-up" cereal to having to cope with gravy that touched the peas on the dinner plate. Humor is everywhere, and the author clearly knows the types of traumas that can turn a child's mood sour. Of course, the tale has a happy ending-someone making the sourpuss laugh and thereby forgetting the reason for the grumpiness entirely. Side comments add to the fun ("Oh Poop," says one child when he gets underwear in a birthday package). Another page talks about the "dangers" of a big hug from Grandma and shows a newspaper story with a big-bosomed blonde granny and an arrow pointing to her rather-endowed chest, claiming that her grandson was "last seen here." Kids are sure to snicker with glee, feeling that they are getting away with seeing/hearing something a bit risqu . Lichtenheld is right on the mark, and his tale is sure to provoke smiles of recognition and delighted laughter from any youngster who has suffered from the "childhood grumpies."-Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, LaSalle Academy, Providence, RI Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Guaranteed to remove every pout in sight, Lichtenheld’s catalogue of common petty annoyances tops even his sidesplitting Everything I Know About Pirates (2000). In a series of close-up, full-spread scenarios, hapless young complainers don’t notice until too late that the toilet seat is up, have to don clothes that make even the dog wince because everything else is in the wash, face a bountiful list of challenging chores, and get a smothering hug from Grandma, capped by the worst of all: being tickled until the Grump’s cause is forgotten. Captioned with a line of huge, scribbly hand-lettering, replete with jokes both visual and verbal, each picture will elicit roars of laughter--and rueful recognition. The No, David! crowd will swarm to this. (Picture book. 7-9)
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780316065894
  • Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
  • Publication date: 4/1/2007
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 40
  • Sales rank: 89,492
  • Age range: 1 - 6 Years
  • Product dimensions: 10.00 (w) x 10.00 (h) x 0.12 (d)

Meet the Author

Tom Lictenheld is the former art director of the Minneapolis branch of Fallon Worldwide, an international advertising agency.

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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4.5
( 12 )
Rating Distribution

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(8)

4 Star

(4)

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Sort by: Showing all of 12 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted April 26, 2008

    Teaching Emotions to Children

    Synopsis: This story discusses different situations that make boys and girls grumpy. Such situations are waking up on the wrong side of the bed, somebody leaving the toilet seat up, having to wear an outfit that looks goofy, receiving a boring birthday gift, having to do chores, someone touching you, stubbing your toe, and having to pick up your room. This story includes different children becoming grumpy for different reasons in which all children can relate to. Evaluation: The book is very appropriate for early readers. Children become grumpy about different things that happen in their lives and this story takes those situations and puts an humorous twist on them. This book will appeal to children because of how they can related to each situation as well as the illustrations. The story takes place in different settings such as outside and in the kitchen. The illustrator portrays this by using details in which American children are familiar to. Such as a refrigerator and a broom to show the setting of a kitchen or a girl stubbing her toe outside on the sidewalk in the middle of a block. All stereotypes are avoided in this story, children of different race are used and all children were illustrated as cartoons. The quality of the language would be challenging for younger readers as well as how the text is set up. The text used is in different size, font and direction throughout the whole story. Some children might have difficulty following the text as well as reading the text in the different fonts. The illustrator shows the different situations with big, vivid pictures which include a child in every picture with a strong emotional look portrayed on his or her face. The pictures are an integral part of the text and can stand alone without the text. The pictures are accurate with the text and consistent with the text. This story shows strong emotion in which the illustrator provided through the cartoons faces. There is very little balance between pages. The illustrations are large and the font is not organized. The size of the books is appropriate for the content. The content and the size of the book are both large and bold. They complement each other nicely. The quality of the paper is thin and can be easily torn. The title page shows a cartoon boy with a grumpy look on his face, which leads the readers to wonder why is the boy so grumpy. This story allows children to see and understand that although they might be in a grumpy mood at one time, other things will make them happy and they will forget why they were even grumpy in the first place.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted December 9, 2007

    So adorable...

    I'm student teaching first grade and one of my students read this book one day. It is absolutely adorable and so sweet. I went right out and bought it the next day. There are so many silly little details in this book and I make everyone I know read it. So worth it!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 31, 2004

    Very Nice!!!

    The book is a very funny. My brother who really dosen't like reading loved reading this book. If you want to get into the mood of reading or start to like book this is the book.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted January 2, 2004

    The Perfect Children's Book

    Funny, charming, beautiful illustrations. This book is perfect for children and adults, grumpy or not.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted October 31, 2003

    Laughed so hard I cried

    A friend and I were out shopping and stopped to read this book. I was reading and tears were streaming down my face I was laughing so hard. My friend had to take over reading the book so we could finish it. I read a lot of children's books and none has ever made me laugh this much!

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted June 12, 2003

    I'm no longer grumpy!!

    No one could stay in a bad mood after reading this hilarious book! The illustrations are just incredible. Be sure to check out the author's suggestion for a new logo for Little, Brown (a short brown crayon in a row with other taller multicolored crayons)--typical of the fun!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted May 16, 2003

    Turn a Bad Day into a Good Day!

    This book is a fabulous way to get a bad day back on track! It's hysterical and the illustrations are detailed and awesome! We use some pages as a memory jogger when my son wakes up grumpy and he's laughing too hard to keep up the frown!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted April 21, 2003

    I laughed out loud!

    I was browsing the aisles and came across this book. I couldn't put it down and my boyfriend and I were laughing out loud in the store. It's a great story with wonderful illustrations.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted March 12, 2003

    Great for grumps and all!

    This book was a big hit with our children. It's a perfect way to show them how silly and useless being grumpy really is. The pictures are funny, and the story is even funnier! John Coleman

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  • Anonymous

    Posted June 11, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 21, 2008

    No text was provided for this review.

  • Anonymous

    Posted January 2, 2010

    No text was provided for this review.

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