Pavlo Gets the Grumps

by Natalia Shaloshvili, Natalia Shaloshvili (Illustrator)

Overview

For those days when everything feels blah, a picture-book-shaped hug offered with humor and tenderness by a gifted Ukrainian artist.

Pavlo does not feel like going to the park. Not today. He does not want to go swimming. He even says no to the movies. What’s going on, Pavlo?
Pavlo has the grumps. Though Mama suggests one fun activity after another, Pavlo doesn’t want to do any of them. Can anything cheer him up on this down day? Capturing a range of emotions through nuanced expressions and a simple text, Natalia Shaloshvili’s comforting picture book looks at familiar childhood feelings, suggesting that grumpy days, sadness, and even anger happen to everyone. But that’s OK—good friends and family will love you anyway. And who knows what might happen if you decide to give that big slide a try after all?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536235548
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	09/24/2024
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.00(w) x 10.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Natalia Shaloshvili is an artist and children’s book author and illustrator whose work includes The Three Little Mittens by Linda Bailey. Her art can be found in exhibitions and private collections around the world. Originally from Ukraine, Natalia Shaloshvili now lives in the UK with her family.

Editorial Reviews

Featuring brilliantly rendered visuals with a tactile quality that will have readers eagerly poring over the pages, this clever tale captures the intensity of a youngster’s bad mood—and the speed with which it can transform into a good one. Young people will readily respond to this skillful rendition of free-floating unhappiness—and to its satisfying antidote.
—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Natalia Shaloshvili’s finely tuned visual humor in Pavlo Gets the Grumps dovetails nicely with her comforting, uplifting message to any reader who’s ever been a bit cranky (aka all of us).
—BookPage (starred review)

Maybe the most instantly adorable character of recent years.
—Booklist

From the Publisher

★ 2024-09-28
Can a kitten remain out of sorts when he’s double-teamed by a resourceful mama and a beloved friend?

It’s touch-and-go for most of the story as cranky Pavlo, clad in striped pajamas, rejects his mother’s suggestions about how they could spend the day. Not the park: “The swings are too swingy, the sandbox is too sandy, and…the slide is tooSLIDEY!” Swimming is out, because “the water is too wet and…the fishies will nibble my toes!” The dark mood of the down-in-the-dumps, gray kitten is mitigated by Shaloshvili’s playful language and the light touch she employs as Pavlo imagines Mama’s proposed scenarios. Children will especially chuckle when Pavlo considers going to the movies; a dog, sitting next to a chicken, reaches over the seat to grab a handful of a distracted elephant’s popcorn. Despite the protagonist’s protests, the activities all look like great fun, and the softly textured acrylic, watercolor pencil, and digital illustrations create a cozy community of cheerful animals. After the grumpy youngster hears his friend Mila’s voice outside, he finally entertains Mama’s ideas; Mila’s hug helps even more, as does some ice cream. Featuring brilliantly rendered visuals with a tactile quality that will have readers eagerly poring over the pages, this clever tale captures the intensity of a youngster’s bad mood—and the speed with which it can transform into a good one.

Young people will readily respond to this skillful rendition of free-floating unhappiness—and to its satisfying antidote.(Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews