The Case of the Moody Simian: Grumpy Monkey by Suzanna Lang

ONE WONDERFUL DAY JIM PANZEE WOKE TO DISCOVER THAT NOTHING WAS RIGHT.

The sun is bright. BLEAH! The sky is blue. BLAH!

The bananas are sweet! YUK!

Nothing pleases Jim.

"MAYBE YOU'RE GRUMPY," SAID NORMAN.

"I'M NOT GRUMPY!" JIM INSISTED.

Norman the gorilla gives up. Soon Jim's other friends rush in to assure him it's glorious day, but he only grows grumpier. They offer mood-lifting remedies. Marabou tells him to relax his tense shoulders. Jim does, but un-hunching doesn't help. Lemur points out that Jim is beetle-browed. Snake suggests a smile.

FINALLY JIM LOOKED HAPPY.

But he wasn't. The birds offer to sing. The zebras recommend a relaxing roll in the grass. Python offers a big hug. Everybody has a recommendation for mood elevation.

BUT JIM DIDN'T WANT ANY OF THAT.

"I AM NOT GRUMPY!"

He storms off by himself, leaving everyone behind. Jim is a monk in a funk!

But then he comes upon Norman. Norman has made the mistake of hugging Porcupine and acquired quills in his backside. Now he, too, is grumpy.

Misery loves company, in Suzanna Lang's Grumpy Monkey (Random House, 2018), and Jim at last has found someone to commiserate with his mood. Jim and Norman agree that they are grumpy. What they both need, they decide, is to declare it a Grumpy Day and hang out and mope together.

Lang's grumpy protagonist is a perfect foil for his hyper-optimistic pals, and artist Max Lang provides his comedic illustrations which will have readers smiling from the git-go. Some days just seem to dawn to be terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad days with no choice but to outlive them. As Norman points out...

"IT'S A WONDERFUL DAY TO BE GRUMPY."

Share this one with Molly Bang's wonderful Caldecott-winning When Sophie Gets Angry-Really, Really Angry… (Scholastic Bookshelf). or Judith Viorst's classic Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.