RITA & RALPH'S ROTTEN DAY

Anger can sometimes cause ridiculous mishaps.

Rita and Ralph live some distance from each other, with many hills between their two homes. Every day they travel “down the hill, and up the hill, and down the hill, and up the hill,” until they meet at the apple tree in the middle, where they high-five each other before playing. One day, they decide to play a new game called Sticks and Stones. Rita ends up with a painful lump on her head, and they both run away. Ralph realizes that he has hurt his best friend. He needs to apologize. So he travels the entire distance to her house: “down the hill, and up the hill, and down the hill…aaaaand up the hill.” By that time, he is cranky and doesn’t sound very sorry while apologizing. He runs all the way home. Rita realizes she may have been a bit rash, so (including all of those hills, which will be a gas in storytime) she goes to apologize to Ralph. But again, it doesn’t quite work. “It has been a rotten day.” Luckily, the next one is much better! The horizontal trim brilliantly showcases Oswald’s expansive art and the distance between the two chums while the typography is set so it emulates the hilly path. Deedy’s author’s note acknowledges inspiration from the popular hand game “Mr. Wiggle and Mr. Waggle.” Rita and Ralph both have brown skin and dark hair.

Humorous repetition lightens the quarrel, and readers learn that forgiveness is a process.