Grump paints a realistic portrait of a mother and her child. Even from looking at the endpapers, the reader can
tell that this is one active – and probably sticky – child. On the dedication page, the reader gets yet another
preview of this tired and grumpy mother who is busily trying to clean up all the mess her child is making! However,
the magic of the book is not the illustrations – as humorous as they are – but in the flowing rhythmic text of
the book.
Look how tired this Mommy is
tired and frumpy
grouchy chumpy
Oh, what a grump! (1).
This magical rhythm of words continues throughout the text as the baby begins to make even more messes. The baby dumps
applesauce and ketchup gravy on its head, and after the mom is through cleaning up the day’s messes, she decides it
is naptime for them both. But the baby is not quite so ready for a nap. But the mother reaffirms it saying Baby’s
going to take a nap now; Baby’s going to take a nap now; Baby’s going to take a nap now; Take a nap now, Little
lump. The baby does not fall asleep until the mother does; he then curls up in his mother’s lap. Once the mother
takes her nap, there is no more grump.
Wong’s book definitely can be categorized as both a predictable and a participation picture book. Once readers are
familiar with the flow and rhythm of the text, they will soon join in the refrains. An example of a refrain would be Look
at baby; smart, good Baby; Happy Baby. This refrain is repeated several times throughout the book beginning with the
applesauce and gravy incident. The book is predictable because it features repeated language patterns, story patterns,
and other familiar sequences (Tunnell and Jacobs, 157). The book is a participation book because children – or
readers of all ages – will want to join in reading aloud the text. The text itself is memorable and a good example
of the music in language.
Wallace’s illustrations would fall into the cartoon style of illustration. They match the text perfectly, but they
are not Caldecott material! The pictures are bright and cheerful. Wallace did an excellent job of creating the expressions
of both mother and child in this book. For example, the mother’s hair becomes more and more frazzled looking as the
day progresses! Grump is definitely a great read!
