picture books on jealousy

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Here’s a match meant to be. Both feature jealous underdogs who have epiphanies. Both have a fantastic narrator voice. Both are full of pop and pizazz.

 

Unicorn Thinks He’s Pretty Great by Bob Shea.

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Poor goat. It’s hard to feel so overlooked and unappreciated. So upstaged by that magical horned animal. To feel like such an underdog. (Undergoat?)

 

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But then. EPIPHANY time! Namely, the overdog he’s jealous of is not perfect and he himself has some pretty great qualities. In fact, the cool guy he’s jealous of sees those qualities too. Unicorn’s the one who points them out. Case in point: goat cheese. Yum.

 

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Turns out life’s not perfect for unicorn either. Unless, of course, he teams up with regular, non-sparkly rainbowed goat!

 

 images via Bob Shea’s website.  

 

The Great Lollipop Caper by Dan Krall.

 

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And now, poor caper. It’s hard to feel so overlooked and unappreciated. So upstaged. Like such an underdog. (Underfood?)

 

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Sure, adults love a caper, but kids, they love lollipops.  Mr. Caper’s jealously drives him to take revenge on Lollipop(s). He pulls a caper. You know, the other kind of caper as in trick, escapade, etc.

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Despite the above spread, it doesn’t work. Instead, he has an EPIPHANY! Thanks in large part to Lollipop who’s sweet but also wise.

Lesson learned: everybody has their good qualities. Everybody’s liked by somebody. Now on to appreciating the things we have, without being jealous of the other guy (animal, food).

 

thanks to Dan Krall for the images!

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So now, in honor of the “Everybody Got Their Something” vibe of this picture book pair, I give you a unicorn, a goat, a lollipop, and a caper. They’ve all got something to be celebrated.

 

 

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UNICORN

unicorn mask

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GOAT(S)

Sound of Music paper goat puppets by Megan Brain (originals from the film here)

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LOLLIPOP(S)

Solar System lollipops by Vintage Confections

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CAPER(S)

And for the sake of combining ingredients kids traditionally aren’t fond of, two recipes (that look delicious!): Brussels sprouts and fried capers & carrots and capers.  

 

To unicorns and lolliops AND underdogs!

 

2 Responses to picture books on jealousy

  1. Tim says:

    Oh, I do love that Bob Shea. His art is terrific, and his “Big Plans” (with Lane Smith) would have to be on my short list of best picture books from the past decade.

    Have to share one of MY favorite goats, from Maira Kalman’s 13 Words:

    http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-bdJOfpVqxw0/ToKVOOoPOxI/AAAAAAAAXxo/E9VLqa7XcbI/s1600/goat.jpg

    • Tim, you are always recommending new books to me! Thank you. I’m not familiar with BIG PLANS, so that’s going on hold at the library immediately.

      That is a great goat!! So sophisticated. Love that book.

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