Maya Was Grumpy

Written and illustrated by Courtney Pippin-Mathur

Scholastic Inc. New York, 2013

32 pages

Picture book

 

 

                        I chose this book because the title caught my attention. The word grumpy in the title is very bold and big which made me curious as to what the book is about. It also has a very cute and colorful cover. Maya wakes up on the wrong side of the bed and is extremely grumpy. She did not know exactly why she was grumpy but nothing made her happy. She tries to share her bad mood with everybody else by trying to make them mad. Maya's Gramma says things to Maya like "well then, I guess no hunting for hippos after breakfast" and "certainly no tickling tarantulas until they giggle" until Maya finally cracks a smile and starts to laugh. She gave her Gramma a big hug while she fixed her hair and packed her a snack for their adventures at the park that day.

                        This book was illustrated with pencil, ink, watercolors, and had a few added digital effects.  Courtney Pippin-Mathur uses a lot of deep purples, blues, and greens as her backgrounds throughout the story. The character Maya has bright orangish yellow hair that really stands out. The illustrations are a whole page and the text is at the top and bottom of different pages.

                         This story could be used when talking about different types of animals or when talking about families. Students could draw a picture of their family or a specific animal that they saw in the book. It could also be used when talking to your students about having a good attitude and how it can change your day. You could create a T chart with one column titled "how a bad mood can effect your day" and another column titled "how a good mood can effect your day". This book has no rewards.