Review by Booklist Review
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 Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Fans of Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born and When I Was Little may be disappointed in this third offering from the talented duo, which looks at the wide range of human emotions. A dynamic girl describes a different "feeling" per day13 in alland the ways in which each manifests itself ("Today I feel silly./ Mom says it's the heat./ I put rouge on the cat/ and gloves on my feet"). Curtis relays her upbeat message ("Moods are just something that happen each day./ Whatever I'm feeling inside is okay!") in verse that is largely sprightly, but doesn't always reflect the changes in mood that occur during the course of the day the girl describes. For example, "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," suggests a variety of feelings other than simply "quiet." Occasionally rhyming couplets take the facile route ("Today I'm discouraged and frustratedsee?/ I tried Rollerblading and fell on my knee"), and the repetitive, driving rhythm doesn't allow the words to soar the way the illustrations do. The puckish artwork, still vintage Cornell, stars a curly red-headed girl whose near-neon surroundings (hot pink, lime green, fiery orange) change in intensity according to the emotion she expresses. A "mood wheel" (for readers to hone in their feelings) rounds out this amiable enough outing that, despite its missteps, may get readers talking about their own emotional swings. Ages 4-8. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 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 (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Curtis's rhyming text and Cornell's lively illustrations create a portrait of an exuberant and very real little girl who one moment feels joyful, excited, or happy and the next bad, sad, cranky, or confused. This humorous look at the subject of feelings and moods features a curly-haired heroine whose independent spirit is reminiscent of Thompson and Knight's Eloise. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
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 (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
