Official Review: My Grouch and Me by Kelly Clement

[AvidBibliophile]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "My Grouch and Me" by Kelly Clement.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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Have you ever experienced moments of episodic anger? Have you ever searched for a straightforward approach that might help kids learn how to harness their pesky feelings of aggressive agitation? My Grouch and Me is a succinct children’s tale that briefly explores the concept of emotional self-control. This book was written by Kelly H. Clement, and it was illustrated by her niece, Haley Clement Cross.

The plot is centered around a little boy in a bad mood. His “grouchiness” is represented by a green dragon who screams, yells, stomps his feet, slams doors, rolls his eyes, and even stares back at the little boy in the mirror as he’s brushing his teeth. As these two entities face a day side by side, the boy must determine how to get his grouch under control. The little boy suddenly has a lightbulb moment of clarity and decides to use his “happy net” to literally catch and subdue his unruly tantrums. The net metaphorically contains positive items like colors, books, friends, vacations, and sunshine. Will he be able to successfully redirect his frustrated anxiety? Will his directed attempts ultimately result in a positive outcome?

The moral of the story is to never fear the inevitable. We all have occasional bad moods, but they are generally temporary, transient, and easily manageable with various coping strategies. Needless to say, there are some children with volatile personalities who will unavoidably require additional guidance at a professional level, but for most households and scenarios, this book presents applicable emotional-processing concepts and techniques.

What I enjoyed the most were the simple but whimsical illustrations that appeared because they authentically depicted the descriptive text. Smiling children of both genders were represented, and the dragon illustrations were not overly frightening. I found the rhyming rhetoric to be musically delightful, and I think it would thoroughly entertain young minds! I did encounter a few errors while reading, but they were primarily limited to minor instances of missing punctuation. That was truly the only aspect of this book that I did not love.

Due to the concise length and simple terminology, I feel this book would be appropriate for children between the ages of three and six. I award this creative anger-management book a rating of 4 out of 4 stars. The storyline believably promotes the importance of listening and understanding, and it encourages kids to be self-aware and accepting.

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My Grouch and Me
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[MsH2k]

We children of all ages could use some tips on how to tame our grouchy dragon! It’s nice that the author and her niece could share in creating this entertaining and educational read. Thank you for your recommendation!

[Francis Aderogbin]

This book is a must-have for all parents and kids. The review carefully teaches anger management. Kudos to the reviewer for a job well done.

[Jackie Holycross]

I know lots of adults that need to read this book. LOL.

[AvidBibliophile]

We children of all ages could use some tips on how to tame our grouchy dragon! It’s nice that the author and her niece could share in creating this entertaining and educational read. Thank you for your recommendation!

Agreed! There seem to be some grouchy dragons aggressively lurking in all realms of daily life. This was a cute collaboration for sure! Thank you, my friend.

[AvidBibliophile]

This book is a must-have for all parents and kids. The review carefully teaches anger management. Kudos to the reviewer for a job well done.

Thanks so much for your kind words of feedback and support! I do believe that souls of all ages could benefit from further development of their anger-management techniques. Hope you have a lovely day!

[AvidBibliophile]

I know lots of adults that need to read this book. LOL.

Right?! Throughout life, people of all ages will undoubtedly struggle with emotional outbursts and acts of aggressive retaliation. We just need to use our happy nets to catch all those tantrums.

[RetiredOBNurse]

Anger management for children is definitely a problem all parents, caregivers, teachers, etc... must face many times throughout the growing years of a child. This book sounds like a perfect way to help the child relate to his own aggressive behavior and ways to control it. Excellent review, thanks!

[Yvonne Monique]

I can relate so much to this topic! My 5-year-old has some really bad moods occasionally, so this sounds like a great book to tackle the problem.

[Yvonne Monique]

I know lots of adults that need to read this book. LOL.

You made me laugh, very true!

[Raluca_Mihaila]

Controlling our inner dragon is something that we should all learn, sooner the better. What an expressive way to teach children about anger management and controlling your emotions! Thank you for your wonderful review!

[cd20]

The title of this book caught my attention and the illustration made me think the book would be funny. I love when authors write a book that will be meaningful to a child, but also to the one reading to the child! It is such a clever trick and I think we all need all the help we can get to tame our "grouch!"

[AvidBibliophile]

Anger management for children is definitely a problem all parents, caregivers, teachers, etc... must face many times throughout the growing years of a child. This book sounds like a perfect way to help the child relate to his own aggressive behavior and ways to control it. Excellent review, thanks!

I think many children would be able to relate to the creative presentation of this book! With the stomping feet and slamming doors, kids could immediately identify some of their own, similar behaviors. And who doesn’t love big green dragons and happy nets?! Thank you for the kind words.

[AvidBibliophile]

I can relate so much to this topic! My 5-year-old has some really bad moods occasionally, so this sounds like a great book to tackle the problem.

I think I might start using metaphorical dragons and butterfly nets to tackle most of life’s problems at this point! Bad moods find us all, but this creative story successfully reassures all readers that those little tantrums can be tamed!

[AvidBibliophile]

I know lots of adults that need to read this book. LOL.

You made me laugh, very true!

Haha, yes! I agree with you both