January 29 – Curmudgeons Day

Happy Curmudgeons Day!

Real curmudgeons won’t like this day, but then again… who cares? Real curmudgeons don’t read picture books either!

Maya Was Grumpy written and illustrated by Courtney Pippin-Mathur (2013)

Maya woke up grumpy. She grumped, and snarled, and glumped, and clumped. Finally she growled as loudly as she could. Gramma suggested silly things… hunting for hippos, putting your head in a crocodiles mouth, or bathing baby elephants. But Maya was not amused. But the more Gramma suggested, the less grumpy Maya became. Until at last, Maya giggled. Then she and Gramma and her twin brothers went to the playground where they could slide down a giraffe’s neck, tickle a tarantula, and swing with the monkeys.

Big Mean Mike written by Michelle Knudsen and illustrated by Scott Magoon (2012)

Mike was a big mean dog with a big mean car and a big mean attitude, and that’s just how he liked it. Everyone was afraid of Big Mean Mike. But one day, as he was about to put a brand new pair of big mean boots he had just bought into the trunk of his big mean car… Mike found a tiny, fuzzy, bunny. It was very cute, but cute and mean did not go together so Mike put the bunny on the sidewalk and drove away. The next day, as Mike reached into his glove compartment to get his gym membership card… he found the tiny, fuzzy bunny and his friend. Mike left them on the sidewalk. The third day, Mike found three tiny, fuzzy bunnies sitting on the hood of his car looking at him and wiggling their cute little noses. Again, Mike left them on the sidewalk. A few days later, on his way to a Monster Truck Show, Mike checked in his trunk, in his glove box, and on the hood of his big, mean car… no bunnies. But when Mike turned off the ignition he dropped his keys on the floor of the car. ‘ARRGH!’ Mike found four tiny, fuzzy bunnies with soft bunny ears and cute little eyes staring at him. Mike hides the bunnies in his gym bag so no one notices them. But then something interesting happens… Mike was having a good time with the bunnies at the car show. When the other mean dogs teased Mike, he knew his reputation was ruined. So he growled, “I can hang out with whoever I want! I like these bunnies. They know how to have a good time. And they’re adorable! Any of you got a problem with that?” Nope, nobody did. And from then on, Big Mean Mike went everywhere with his four tiny, fuzzy, friends.

What Are You So Grumpy About? written and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld (2003)

There are lots of things to be grumpy about: falling into the toilet when someone leaves the lid up, getting boring stuff (like underwear) in your birthday package, having your brother or sister give you cooties by touching you, or worse… having someone make you laugh when you’re trying to be grumpy!

Crabby Cratchitt written by Gregory Maguire and illustrated by Andrew Glass (1980)

Crabby Cratchitt’s hen was driving her crazy. She couldn’t rest with all that clucking going on. So Crabby Cratchitt hatches a plan to cook that hen for supper. But the hen is harder to catch than she thought. On top of that, the hen had laid twenty eggs. Crabby Cratchitt just had to get rid of the eggs before they hatched and caused her even more problems. So she collected the eggs in a box and just as she was about to drive away with them, she noticed a fox in her rearview mirror. Crabby’s heart melted and she went back to rescue the hen from the fox. After that, Crabby Cratchitt’s hen and twenty chicks, clucked a lullaby as she went to sleep in her hammock.