GRUMPY PANTS
Have you ever had a grumpy day and not known why? Penguin is having a grumpy day like that. No matter what he does, he just can't shake it!
Published in 2016 by Albert Whitman, Grumpy Pants is my first picture book. It follows the adventures of Penguin, trying as he might to shed his grumpiness, one piece of clothing at a time. You can purchase a copy at any good bookshop in the U.S. or on Amazon UK. Warning: this book contains penguin nudity.
“Messer’s debut is both a useful lesson in beating a cantankerous mood and an elegant example of traditional printmaking, made appealingly up-to-date against stretches of white.”
“Spare linoleum-print illustrations with lots of white space keep viewers’ eyes trained on our protagonist as he humorously grumps and stomps (we’re laughing at him, not with him) and then visibly chills out (his eyebrows give us all we need to gauge his moods).”
“Penguin’s ability to bring himself to a more content and optimistic place without any outside or parental help offers concrete, empowering ideas for readers who might be wearing their own grumpy outfits.”
LAZYBONES
Albert Whitman & Company, 2018
