EVERYTHING'S WRONG!

In this companion to Something’s Wrong! (2021) and Nothing’s Wrong! (2023), two pals contend with a very bad day.

Jeff (a large brown bear wearing undies festooned with red hearts) and Anders (a fastidious green hare) each greet the morning cheerfully from their respective dwellings. But when the lights go out in both their houses, they find themselves prone, breakfast dripping from their fur. After they each step outside, their doors lock behind them, and they race toward each other’s homes—colliding on the path. What follows is a series of indignities involving bees, sap, dust, a skunk, pollen, and hail; it’s so preposterous that they can’t help but laugh. The text is full of alliteration and playful language. Anders thinks it’s going to be a “calm, cool, and collected type of day.” Jeff later wonders, “What are all these sticker-y, sticky, needle-y, poke-y, ouch-y, hurt-y thingies?” (Burrs.) Kraan’s mix of woodcut, colored pencil, and linocut artwork shows warm woodland and cozy domestic scenes full of pleasing textures and patterns. When the duo escape to the lake, they find friends—and Jeff’s grandma—all of whom had weird days of their own. They now float contentedly, munching sandwiches. As the pair join the fun, they conclude that pleasure is possible, even on bad days. Jeff muses, “All you can control are your actions and reactions to stuff.”

Important life lessons, served with a heap of comedy.