Mrs. Biddlebox: Her Bad Day ... And What She Did About It! Review

Harcourt, Inc.

At last, a book with step-by-step instructions for doing away with bad days. I've had more than my fair share lately, so I empathize:

On a grubby little hill,
in a dreary little funk,
Mrs. Biddlebox rolled over
on the wrong side of her bunk.

The morning gets appreciably more depressing, which Frazee serves up with minute, horizontal strokes of black grease pencil over muted beiges and gray-greens for a sense of bottomless gloom. Mrs. B. decides to rid herself of all that bad humor by cooking the whole day into a pie.

Some witchcraft's in order in verses Smith keeps tight and tidy, with no misplaced meter and a smooth rhyme scheme that tickles the ear. I warmed to the idea of an unrepentant witch who wants things to go her way for a change.

But wow, does that pie do the trick and Mrs. B. goes to bed under a cloudless, star-studded sky.

I want the recipe.