The Three Grumpies
by tamra wright/ ross collins
09|09|2007

children's book
traditional drawn, watercolor, possibly gouache

I was skipping around Books-A-Million one day a couple of years ago and I just randomly grabbed this book out of the row. It's the one, and probably will be the only time ever that the first book I grab only seeing the side of the cover is a good pick. I dont know what made me reach that day but I'm thankful because I love this book to death.

It's about a little girl who wakes up on the wrong side of the bed only to find her day plagued by three annoying monsters (for lack of a better word) called the 'Grumpies', who do everything from squeezing toothpaste all over her to eating her lunch and breaking her favorite crayons. The whole day she racks her brain trying to figure out what she can do to get rid of them. They finally vacate by her just learning to laugh at them instead of getting angry. The book ends asking 'I wonder who will get the grumpies next?'

I'd say it teaches a good lesson in dealing with having a bad day and when faced with purposely annoying people learning to keep your cool.

To top it off Ross Collins's art is insanely dope to me. The colors, the style, everything about it just screams good children's illustration. He takes everyday objects and gives them and the people around them this abstract type look thats still simple. It would be even tighter if it was animated (wouldn't everything???). Check him out, dude has done a RACK of books, amongst other things. Loving the simple site design.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go remove myself from his bozack.

Grumpy Bird
by jeremy tankard
06|15|2007

children's book
traditional drawn, digital colors

Really fun clumpily(?) inked art insanely colorful. Very loyal to the loose brush strokes much like sumi-e caligraphy and so forth.

here's the blurb: Bird wakes up feeling grumpy. Too grumpy to eat or play -- too grumpy even to fly. “Looks like I'm walking today,” says Bird. He walks past Sheep, who offers to keep him company. He walks past Rabbit, who also could use a walk. Raccoon, Beaver, and Fox join in, too. Before he knows it, a little exercise and companionship help Bird shake his bad mood.

This book reminds me of myself, only without the resolve. I wouldn't say skip a meal to buy it.. but if you already ate and you have 8 extra bucks on you , scoop it :D Peep more of Jeremy's art here.