Harriet's Had Enough!

My seven year-old grandson doesn't like change. He has definite opinions and you can't rush, cajole, or fool him. He takes his time. He doesn't like to pick up his many creative projects, which are usually strewn across the living room. While he is consistently one of the most prolific readers (both "read to" and now, reading for himself) he has a limited repertoire of much beloved and extremely reread favorites. The day I tried to introduce "Harriet's Had Enough" to him he said he wasn't ready for it. This is his stock answer. Might as well give up. I asked him if he minded if I looked at it as I had read the author's other books and really wanted to see her new book. This was fine as long as I didn't expect him to listen. He noticed, though, from the cover illustration, that the character is a raccoon. Big points, but not enough to win an audition. I read one page aloud, the first page that starts "One day Harriet and her mama had a big fight". I swear I saw his ears swivel. When I read that the fight was about cleaning up toys, he was hooked. That night, he allowed me to read him the whole book as one of his bedtime books. After the first two pages he sat up and began to follow the pictures and words, he laughed, he gaffawed, he snorted. He grew silent as the message soaked in. At the end he told me it was "cool" in that awe-filled tone he uses for fart machines and beating his sister at Super Mario. This is a great book for boys and girls, starring a protagonist with whom they will identify. Importantly, children learn that even when emotions heat up, on the part of children or parents, anger doesn't mean that love is lost. As Jake says,way cool.