TODAY I FEEL SILLY

The young narrator is a mood factory: one day silly, the next sad, then bouncing back with a joyful outlook. For the most part, the girl’s briskly versified explanations for her moods are reactive. She is angry when her feelings are hurt after being snubbed, sad when she and her friend have a fight, confused by the prospects of a sibling, frustrated by failed attempts to Rollerblade, encouraged by success at knitting. Curtis (Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born, also illustrated by Cornell, 1996, etc.) smartly includes a couple of moods—quiet, grumpy—that have no obvious source, moods that perplex and even scare children, who need to know just how okay they are: “Today I am quiet, my mom understands./She gave me two ice creams and then we held hands./We went to the movies and then had a bite./I cried just a little and then felt all right.” Cornell’s illustrations are a splash of candy colors, as expressive and inviting as the text. (Picture book. 4-8)