Announcing a fabulous new book for all those mooooody little critters out there. You know who you are.
Text ©️Corey Rosen Schwarz & Kirsti Call, Illustration ©️Claudia Ranucci
Look at that face!
Mootilda woke up in a huff
with hay stuck in her hair.
“What’s going on? My pillow’s gone.
My doll’s way over there!”
She hugged her moomaw cow who said,
“Oh sweetie, have a treat.”
She grabbed the stick and took a lick.
It landed at her feet.
Text ©️Corey Rosen Schwarz & Kirsti Call, Illustration ©️Claudia Ranucci
Text ©️Corey Rosen Schwarz & Kirsti Call, Illustration ©️Claudia Ranucci
Poor, Mootilda. Raise your hand if you’ve ever had to deal with a small person who feels this way. Heck, I think I felt this way this morning, but I digress.
Mootilda can’t catch a break. Her life goes from bad to worse.
Text ©️Corey Rosen Schwarz & Kirsti Call, Illustration ©️Claudia Ranucci
If your heart doesn’t break when you see sad, little Mootilda on her moomaw’s lap and then tangled up in a jump rope, you need to go looking for your empathy.
With spot on rhyme and meter that flows smoothly and is FUN to read (so many fabulous bovine puns!!) this book is certain to be a crowd pleaser. Everyone will want to call out the refrain: “I’m in a bad moooood!”
But in the end, Mootilda discovers how a sense of humor may be the pathway out of her angry moood. And in a final funny spread, Mootilda sets up shop to cownsel others through their bad mooooods. Perfect!
Claudia Ranucci’s expressive illustrations treat this—ah—tail of woe with an appropriate mix of silliness and empathy. The end papers, showing Mootilda in various stages of moooodiness, are a wonderful entry and exit point for this story. Guaranteed to be a favorite, you’d better have a second copy on hand for when the pages start falling out.
As a special treat, Kirsti Call is offering a free copy to a lucky winner! Just comment below to be entered in the giveaway. Deadline to comment is September 10. Winner will be announced one week from today!!
Activities:
Tips for dispelling bad mooooods
Make an origami cow, easier origami cow
Pair with: The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld or Even Super Heroes Have Bad Days by Shelley Becker
Title: Mootilda’s Bad Mood
Authors: Corey Rosen Schwartz & Kirsti Call
Illustrator: Claudia Ranucci
Publisher: Little Bee Books, 2020
Themes: overcoming bad moods, helping friends, farm animals
Ages: Preschool-3rd grade
For more perfect picture book recommendations, please check out Susanna Hill’s blog.
Jilanne Hoffmann 
This book is so fun and what’s not to love about cow word play! Certain to bring smiles to even the grumpiest calf!
I recall negotiating with my grumpy calf when he was small. Perhaps I’ll pull this out to temper his teenage grumpiness….LOL
As a BIG fan of cows, I’m looking forward to reading this book.
Perhaps it’s good for chickens, too, because I found myself cackling….
This looks adorable! I think everyone can relate to those bad mooood days. 🙂
I had one earlier this week, LOL. This book definitely made me laugh it off. Cheers!
Cows are the best, and a book about cows is even better! How could anyone anyone stay in a bad mooood after reading Moootilda’s tale!
That’s my feeling, too. I could see a child pulling this book out in a huff and finish reading it with a smile.
And I was just thinking that it kind of follows my mom’s philosophy of “this, too, shall pass” and keeping a sense of humor during hard times…..
I think we all need to read Mootilda’s Bad Mood these days.
I 100% agree! During the time that I was reading this book and writing its review, I found myself feeling better!
As a cow aficionado, I am udderly looking forward to reading about Mootilda!
And me? I’m digging the cow puns!
Cow jokes mooove me to 😆
😂
Winner Winner…vegetarian dinner! Your name has been drawn from the jar that marinaded on Funk & Wagnall’s porch for seven days!!! Woohoo! Pam, let me know how I can get in touch with you!! So I can forward your details on to Kirsti!
Woo Hoo! Thanks for the marinade news.
email: cricketmusings@gmail.com
Congrats again!
Looks like this book could chase the moody blues away.
Now all I can think of is Nights in White Satin. Maybe it should be cows in black and white satin…
Aw such an empathic component to a fun word play book, thanks for sharing, Jilanne and yay for Corey and Kristi
playful empathy is very effective, I think!
Agreed!
You can never go wrong with cows…always make for great characters!
Yes! There’s something inherently funny and likable about them. Cheers!
Aw! What a clever book! Thanks for sharing. I look forward to reading it with my kiddos, especially the one that wears his heart on his sleeve.
It is clever, funny, and huggable. Great qualities in a picture book!
Gotta get this one for my counseling bookshelf! 🐄
It will definitely improve mooooods!
Congratulations on this adorable book!! I’m in the moood for a cow book!!!
How could anyone NOT be in the moooood for a cow book? Especially one that’s funny and soooo moooovelously written!
This sounds like a perfect read aloud that everyone can relate to. What a great discussion starter. I can hear the kids saying, “Well, when I’M in a BAD mood…” And we can strategize about ways to help a friend, a sibling, or parent who is in a bad mood.
Yes!! And there would be lots of mooing involved. Guaranteed to lift everyone’s spirits!
Thanks for this review. I’ve been intersted in seeing a bit more about it. Sounds like such a funny (shhh “& helpful”) book for all of those moody people in our lives. Looking forward to reading it.
It’s quite a fun read aloud. I think you’ll enjoy it!
great review – I definitely need to find this book to help me out of bad moods!
It certainly lifted my spirits!
Don’t know how I missed this review! I know someone who lives on a dairy farm and she would love this book for her son!
Yay! Sounds like a perfect fit! Thanks, Patricia!
I love Mootilda! This book is certainly one to turn a bad mood into a good mood.
Yes! It makes me smile at every page.