The most jarring thing about “A Good Day,” by Kevin Henkes, is the first page, the way it begins:
“It was a bad day…”
Kind of seems like false advertising, yeah? I mean, look at the title. The title, Henkes! There were promises made!
But indeed, the first half of the book is all about characters having a real bummer of a day.
But then…
Things get better. And by the end, the way they get better intersects unexpectedly with the events of the first half of the book, an elegant overlap that may satisfy fans of “This is Us” or, depending on your tastes, “Pulp Fiction.”
The plot’s overall simplicity is part of the book’s genius. Things were bad, things got better. Meaning what? Things aren’t as bad as you think they are? You should sit tight and wait for improvements to happen? Life is an unpredictable mosaic of suffering and joy? The fact that Henkes doesn’t tell you what it’s all supposed to mean is another part of the book’s genius.
Which is no surprise: writer/illustrator Henkes has a history of folding complicated emotions into deceptively simple narrative packages.
Picture Books by Kevin Henkes
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Above all, “A Good Day” is not so much about luck or fate or fairness – it’s about feelings. Often feelings are directly influenced by outside circumstances, and sometimes you can control the impact of outside circumstances by managing your reaction to them, but the fact remains that sometimes you’re the little yellow bird who lost his tail feather, and sometimes you’re the little brown squirrel who found the biggest nut ever, and either way, there are going to be feels.
And one of the biggest challenges about being human, at least for those of us who are somewhere roughly between the ages of 2 and 115, is confronting and controlling and understanding our feelings. Good thing there are picture books to help us with that.
Picture Books About Feelings
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What is the 101 Picture Book Challenge and How Do You Take It?
The 101 Picture Book Challenge is for anyone at any age. Librarians hand picked the titles on the list which includes classics, new titles and everything in between.
To get started, register online. You can track your progress online or if you prefer a paper log booklet, pick one up at your neighborhood Library. The books are organized into categories but you can read the books in any order and at your own pace. When you read all 101 titles, you earn a free picture book (while supplies last).
This is the latest in a series of blog posts exploring some of the things we love about these books.
Originally posted by Eric P. at ToledoLibrary.org/Good-Day-Good-Reads