by Ramona Bădescu; illus. by Delphine Durand

Chronicle Books, 2009 

Image from publisher

Who hasn’t had a bad mood that they can’t shake?  Everyone will be able to sympathize with Big Rabbit when his bad mood, a dark grey monster, follows him everywhere.  No matter what he does, the mood won’t leave him alone: the bad mood lounges on his couch, eats his food, and rubs his boogers on Big Rabbit’s carpet.  Big Rabbit goes through some of the familiar steps of having a bad mood: he calls his friends and suspects them of hanging out without him; he tries to distract himself by watching TV and cooking; he calls his mom and she is too busy for him.  The easy text escalates as Big Rabbit’s temper does.  He decides to make a path for the bad mood to follow out the door, to “make the mood scram, take off clear out!”  Finally, Big Rabbit is surprised by a birthday party that finally scares his bad mood away.  Durand’s hilarious illustrations perfectly express what it’s like to be followed by a horribly bad mood, and her bright colors and whimsical creatures are a joy to behold, particularly when the bad mood has gone. 

(This review was originally submitted as part of my picture book overview for Materials for Children class)