Review by New York Times Review
Dyckman and OHora (the team behind "Wolfie the Bunny") specialize in full-spectrum emotion and offbeat charm, making a kid's temper tantrum as fun as a theme park ride. Bear doesn't mean to break the girl's kite, but she is furious, clomping home proclaiming his horribleness. Bear's enraged too. (The injustice!) Heading to her house for a fight, he's met with contrition, and they patch it up. The art is a blast - even at her surliest, the girl will win smiles with her gigantic red curls. THE GRUMPY PETS Written and illustrated by Kristine A. Lombardi. 32 pp. Abrams. $14.95. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) Billy's permafrown worries his mother. She takes him to an animal rescue to find a pet, but the cuteness leaves him cold. Feeling left out, he follows the growls and hisses to the back. An array of ornery pets awaits, including the dog of his dreams, a glum wiry-haired fellow with downward-tilting eyebrows like Billy's. With pastel illustrations as winningly shaggy as her heroes, Lombardi ("Lovey Bunny") strikes a blow for the littlest grouches - and the overlooked rescue pets who need them. STOP FOLLOWING ME, MOON! Written and illustrated by Darren Farrell. 32 pp. Dial. $17.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) When the moon seems to follow you, it can be a perfect introduction to the wonders of the universe. Or it can be, as in this larky book from Farrell ("Thank You, Octopus"), a great opportunity to goof on someone's naïveté. After a midnight thieving spree, a bear sees the moon trailing him. Is it on to his crimes? He rants crankily. He issues threats, to no avail. Then the moon ducks behind a cloud, and he's terrified. He welcomes it back with a wittily drawn moonlit feast for everyone he's ripped off. EVERYONE... Written and illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal. 32 pp. Candlewick. $15.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) The prolific illustrator Neal makes his authorial debut in this direct and simple ode to our ever-changing moods. With a palette of mostly black, white, tan and a soft royal blue, Neal shows a boy protagonist who's having the kind of day that "never seems to end," with extremes of emotion and lots of tears. We all, he reminds us, share the same feelings. Neal's words don't always land as solidly as his lovely art, but the message of self-acceptance and community is heartfelt and reassuring. GRUMPY PANTS Written and illustrated by Claire Messer. 32 pp. Albert Whitman. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 4 to 8) Messer's debut is both a useful lesson in beating a cantankerous mood and an elegant example of traditional printmaking, made appealingly up-to-date against stretches of white. Feeling crotchety for no particular reason, Penguin stomps home. Even taking off "his grumpy coat" and "his grumpy boots," all the way to "his grumpy underpants," is no help. So he dives into a bath, plays with his duck, puts on pajamas, has some hot chocolate and settles down with his favorite book. Works every time. ONLINE An expanded visual presentation of this week's column at nytimes.com/books.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [June 3, 2016]
Review by Booklist Review
*Starred Review* Hoping to retrieve her kite, a girl with frizzy red hair reaches into sleeping Bear's cave just as he rolls over, inadvertently crushing it beneath him. Horrible Bear! she shrieks and then stomps home to scribble, kick, and (accidentally) rip the ear off her stuffed bunny. Meanwhile, Bear is indignant over being so rudely awakened, and he is bent on revenge. He practices barging and making a ruckus, eventually stomping down the mountain to the girl's house, rawr-ing all the way. When the two meet, however, the girl (who now realizes accidents just happen) immediately apologizes, draining all the horrible out of Bear. He becomes Sweet Bear, dedicated to patching up toys and friendships. The creators of Wolfie the Bunny (2015) explore the common childhood experiences of accidents and misunderstandings with sensitivity and humor. Like many preschoolers, the little girl explodes in an instant when her kite gets broken, but she also calms herself quickly once she understands Bear's perspective. OHora makes good use of bright acrylics, boldly styled characters, and limited backgrounds to keep young listeners focused on the story. Those familiar with Wolfie will also appreciate the close resemblance of the toy bunny to Wolfie's sister, Dot. A perfectly over-the-top look at tantrums, friendship, and forgiveness that is sure to resonate with preschoolers and parents alike.--Weisman, Kay Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With wit and tenderness, Dyckman and OHora, the duo behind 2015's Wolfie the Bunny, introduce two creatures who are absolutely furious with each other. A bear inadvertently crushes a kite that belongs to a girl with a mop of red hair. "Horrible bear!" she shouts, and stomps home. Angry at the girl's unfair condemnation ("She barged in!") Bear hatches a plan to get back at her: "It was a Horrible Bear idea." True to the way people process feelings at different speeds, Horrible Bear arrives at the girl's house just as she accidentally damages a toy and realizes that the bear's misdeed was an accident, too. "I'm sorry!" she tells him, "And all the horrible went right out of Bear." OHora works his goofy magic everywhere, observing the way anger causes ridiculous mishaps (the bear stomps through the girl's laundry and arrives festooned with clothespins) and affects innocent bystanders (a puzzled, picnicking goat). Dyckman and OHora portray genuine forgiveness without a hint of moralizing. Ages 3-6. Author's agent: Scott Treimel, Scott Treimel N.Y. Illustrator's agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary Agency. (Apr.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In the mind of a child, mistakes are often misinterpreted as malfeasance, and the resultant anger can be contagious. Dyckman writes a simple story about just such a mistake. A little girl loses her kite in a bear's den, and when he rolls over in his sleep, he crushes it and becomes a HORRIBLE BEAR! Though the little girl seems to have some strategies to deal with anger (reading, painting, talking it out), it isn't until she mistakenly tears her own stuffed animal's ear that she gets some clarity about what really happened in that cave, and in her heart. Meanwhile, the bear is trying out his own righteous anger, charging to the little girl's house for a stand-off. A simple "I'm sorry" turns horrible into sweet. In reality, such spontaneous forgiveness and acceptance are rare, but cutting to the chase does readers no harm here. OHora's acrylic paint on paper illustrations are vivid and childlike. Thick black lines miraculously convey a range of emotions, and the girl's pile of bright red hair with black curlicues serves as a metaphor for both her anger and her exuberance. Molly Bang's Sophie finally has a worthy shelf-mate for absolutely spot-on characterizations of mood. VERDICT Highly recommended for picture book collections.-Lisa Lehmuller, Paul Cuffee Maritime Charter School, Providence, RI © Copyright 2016. 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
The action begins on the title-page spread, with a little red-haired girl standing on the bottom of the left-hand page. Shes flying a kite -- and shes frowning. The kite is high up in the sky, on top of the right-hand page, and -- SNAP! -- the string is broken in the middle. Turn the page to see the girl peeking into a mountaintop cave where the kite has landedon a snoozing bear. When she tries to retrieve the kite -- CRUNCH! -- the bear rolls over and breaks it. Not one to let sleeping bears lie, the girl gets all up in his face, waking the startled creature by shouting: HORRIBLE BEAR! Then she storms off down the mountain, through the meadow (and a goats picnic), and into her house, where she stews some more. Meanwhile, the put-out bear (IM not horrible! SHE barged in! SHE made a ruckus! SHE woke ME up!) formulates his revenge. After some practice barging and ruckus-making, he stomps down to the girls house, ready to wake her up -- and unprepared for the apology he receives. Dyckman and OHoras lively conflict-resolution-in-picture-books-clothing is as entertaining as it is instructive. The spare narration lets the shouty dialogue do most of the talking, and its hilarious in that way angry children can be without knowing it. OHoras acrylic illustrations, with their thick black lines and subdued hues (forest green, orangey-red, not-too-bright yellow, lavender, and teal), enhance the humor, with that cloud of curly red hair seemingly having a mind of its own. elissa gershowitz (c) Copyright 2016. 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
A freckle-faced white child with a mass of red curls piled three times the height of her head is flying her kite near a snowcapped mountaintop when"snap!"the string breaks, and the toy is blown into a sleeping bear's cave, coming to rest on his belly. Readers are cued into the nonscary absurdity as they observe the orange-furred bear napping in a Froggy Hollow Summer Camp T-shirt stretched across his huge belly, a tiny teddy bear tucked in his arm. As the girl reaches for her kite, the bear rolls over, crushing it: "crunch!" The girl is shocked into a fit of righteous anger, blaming the bear for breaking her toy. "HORRIBLE BEAR!"and so begins the refrain of her angry tantrum. The team that brought readers the adorable Wolfie the Bunny (2014) continues their success here. OHora's paintings are boldly colored and layered: a yellow stuffed bunny wears a teal jacket; the purple-and-black-clad little girl strides in red Converse high-top sneakers over a pea-green lawn. The limited language and solid acrylic paintings work together beautifully to convey emotion. When the little girl realizes that the bear didn't break her toy on purpose, one word speaks volumes: "Oh." Her face fills the entire page, her feelings indicated with black dot eyes, a couple of curved lines, and a black dot mouth. A charmingly loud and lighthearted friendship story. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
