Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day by Jamie Lee Curtis, Laura Cornell (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Today I feel silly. Mom says it's the heat.
I put rouge on the cat and gloves on my feet.
I ate noodles for breakfast and pancakes at night.
I dressed like a star and was quite a sight.

Today I am sad, my mood's heavy and gray.
There's a frown on my face and it's been there all day.
My best friend and I had a really big fight.
She said that I tattled and I know that she's right.

Silly, cranky, excited, or sad—everyone has moods that can change each day. Jamie Lee Curtis's zany and touching verse, paired with Laura Cornell's whimsical and original illustrations, helps kids explore, identify, and, even have fun with their ever-changing moods.

Here's another inspired picture book from the bestselling author-illustrator team of Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born and When I Was Little: A Four-Year-Old's Memoir of Her Youth.

Publishers Weekly

Fans of Tell Me Again About the Night I Was Born and When I Was Little may be disappointed in this third offering from the talented duo, which looks at the wide range of human emotions. A dynamic girl describes a different "feeling" per day--13 in all--and the ways in which each manifests itself ("Today I feel silly./ Mom says it's the heat./ I put rouge on the cat/ and gloves on my feet"). Curtis relays her upbeat message ("Moods are just something that happen each day./ Whatever I'm feeling inside is okay!") in verse that is largely sprightly, but doesn't always reflect the changes in mood that occur during the course of the day the girl describes. For example, "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," suggests a variety of feelings other than simply "quiet." Occasionally rhyming couplets take the facile route ("Today I'm discouraged and frustrated--see?/ I tried Rollerblading and fell on my knee"), and the repetitive, driving rhythm doesn't allow the words to soar the way the illustrations do. The puckish artwork, still vintage Cornell, stars a curly red-headed girl whose near-neon surroundings (hot pink, lime green, fiery orange) change in intensity according to the emotion she expresses. A "mood wheel" (for readers to hone in their feelings) rounds out this amiable enough outing that, despite its missteps, may get readers talking about their own emotional swings. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)

Children's Literature

The main character in this picture book takes the reader along on an emotional roller coaster from happy to down right miserable. She tells about days when, "I did my first solo in hip-hop and jazz. This day's been so great that I am full of pizzazz," and days when, "Today my mood's bad. I feel grumpy and mean. I picked up my room. It still isn't clean." Just about every feeling that can be felt by a young child is highlighted, such as silliness, confusion, envy, joy, embarrassment, loneliness and more! The reader is asked at the end of the story, "How do YOU feel today?" A Mood Wheel lets kids manipulate the eyes and mouth to show their feeling. Cartoon-like watercolors fill the pages in washes of bright hues. This is a perfect book that can be used in Pre-School and Elementary school settings to explore children's feelings and how they express them. Another successful collaboration between the author and illustrator of Tell Me Again about the Night I Was Born.

Kirkus Reviews

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) 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.

Product Details