MISTY THE CLOUD

When too many negative experiences pile up on the same day, a young cloud’s mood bursts into a storm.

Misty’s day starts with a rude awakening by a passing airplane and continues to go downhill. With news of each friend who is too busy to play (Wispy has schoolwork, Scud’s babysitting, and Kelvin’s getting new eyeglasses), Misty’s bad mood worsens until she just has to yell, resulting in flashes of lightning, crashes of thunder, and a downpour, which rains on the parade, or in this case, baseball game, of a human girl named Clare. Clare expresses her displeasure by stamping her feet and kicking over a block tower. In a contrived ending, Misty’s mom points out her daughter’s favorite sight—hot air balloons—Misty calms down and her friends come to watch, too, and Clare and her mom are able to get in some baseball practice outside. The animation-inspired illustrations are delightfully imaginative. The ethereal, fluffy, white cloud characters have clothes, skin, and hair tinted in light shades of pink, blue, and purple. Clare and her mother are White; teammates are diverse. Backmatter includes three weather-related activities, a brief verse about getting over a bad mood, and some weather facts from the Today show meteorologist author. These seem rather scattershot, however, and will likely go over the heads of children young enough to enjoy the story. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

The illustrations are cute, but the book doesn’t work as a lesson on either the weather or regulating bad moods.