Little Bodhi And The Grumpy Afternoon

For the child who is not bad, just tired.

His sandal was wrong. His rice was wrong. The step was too hard to sit on. Nothing was wrong, and everything was wrong, and the grumpy started behind Bodhi's eyes, sat down heavy in his shoulders, and went all the way to his fingers.

Nobody tells Bodhi to be nice. He goes and sits with his back to everybody, and the afternoon goes on being long. Then he shakes with Monkey, and it does not fix the grumpy, it only moves it around. He walks slow with Turtle. He tries to stand on one leg like Crane, falls over, and does not try again, because even standing up is tired. He tells Puppy to go away, and Puppy goes away, and then comes back and lies down against his leg. And at last he lies down beside Cat in a warm square of sun, and his eyes close by themselves.

Oh, says Bodhi. I am not bad. I am tired.

This is a picture book about the bad mood that turns out to be a physical need wearing a mood as a disguise. Most of them are. Tired, hungry, too much noise, too long since anything went their way. The sandal is not really wrong; something in the body is, and the nearest object gets the blame. Teaching a child to reach for tired instead of bad is the most protective thing you can do, because bad is a verdict on who they are and tired is a fact about right now.

Inside The Book:

• Fourteen calm spreads, about 460 words, made to be read in one sitting
• A breathing refrain that repeats three times, so a child can say it along with you by the second reading
• A Note For Grown-Ups on bad moods that are really tired bodies, and on why coming back and waiting works better than talking
• Three Things To Try Together: Rest Like Cat, Ask Like Bodhi, Wait Like Puppy
• Warm flat illustrations, with no screens, no scolding, and no grown-ups in the story

Book four of Little Bodhi And The Animal Sangha. Every book gives one animal one feeling and keeps the same calm shape, so a child who knows one book already knows how the next one goes. Reading age 3 to 7.