Red Red Red

Whilst in our local library this morning, I saw a small moppet rolling round on the floor screaming and thought to myself that his poor mum rather needed this book!  The child in the story sees ‘red red red’ after trying to reach the biscuits and falling on his or her head.  A full-blown temper tantrum follows, and mum, while applying lots of sympathy, looks suitably perturbed.  She has the answer, though.  She begins to count to ten slowly with her little one, and we then get lots of vignettes of the child.  These are immensely charming, and show the small tot going from screaming to smiling – and then having biscuits!  Dunbar’s always fun rhyming couplets and integrated text, along with the wonderful pictures of both child and mum, are a joy to see, and the red scribbles throughout – as well as on the end pages – give us a true sense of the feel of being angry.  A great book for both child and parent on handling the inevitable temper tantrums that occur as babies grow older.