Good Morning, Grizzle Grump

Reviewed by: Kara Reiman - Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: January 9, 2018

Review

Grizzle Grump and friends return in Blecha's second hibernating bear installment. Spring has arrived, Grizzle Grump is awake, and he's hungry. He and Squirrel go in search of a tasty spring snack. They find some berries, and Grizzle collects a whole stack. But Squirrell has hidden himself, and while he looks for Squirrell, other animals run away with his berries! Grizzle and Squirrel move on to different areas of the island discovering and then losing other snacks, until the final pages reveal that the other animals were stealing the food in order to have a surprise party for Grizzle Grump. It's a bit of a mixed message (stealing is okay if it's for a good reason?) but the book will delight all who enjoyed the first book.

Blecha's illustrations are beautifully colorful and perfect; even better than in the first book. The copyright page is a double spread illustrating the islands in "The Wild World and the Creatures & Critters that Creep & Crawl Around it" featuring more areas and animals than we've seen in the books, leaving us hoping that more stories may be coming.

Overall Book Score: very good