Grumpy Monkey
2018 • 32 pages

Ratings10

Average rating3.8

15

A bit conflicted on the message here, so am going with an “okay” rating. I loved the clever illustrations and the side humor in them. It showed a realistic human trait through the medium of the monkey. I liked the message about being honest and not lying about our feelings. At the same time, though, I was a little concerned about the final message of sitting down and indulging in grumpy, since there's a fine line between being honest and letting oneself be a mean killjoy. Jim Panzee made his friends sad because he was sad, and he snapped at them for things that weren't their fault. So overall the honest message is good, and the story is clever, but it missed a large point about how Jim's selfishness also affected his friends' day.

January 1, 2020