Grumpy Bird

Grumpy Bird by Jeremy Tankard
2007

     Bird woke up grumpy.  So grumpy in fact that he didn't feel like eating, or playing, or even flying. So he decided to walk.   With a scowl on, the grumpy bird begins his walk and along the way runs into Sheep, Rabbit, Raccoon, Beaver and Fox.  Each one of them asks Bird what he's doing which only seems to aggravate him even more: "Let me give you a hint [...] You do it by placing one foot in front of the other."  "WHY DOES EVERYONE WANT TO KNOW WHAT I'M DOING [...] I'm just walking, okay?"  All the animals join the grumpy bird on his walk and it eventually becomes a game of follow the leader.  Bird walked, they walked. Bird stopped, they stopped. Bird stood on one leg, they stood on one leg. As the walk turns into a game, Grumpy Bird's frown turns into a smile and he ends up inviting his friends to fly back to his nest for a snack.
     I love Grumpy Bird.  It's a fantastic read aloud with great illustrations.  My son identifies with bird right away....let's just say he's not really a morning person.  This one you'll read over and over again, I promise.
PS: Thanks to the marvelous Heather E. Ryan for introducing me to Grumpy Bird.