CLOVIS KEEPS HIS COOL

Working in a china shop tests a bull’s anger-management skills.

A burly bull and former linebacker, Clovis has a “temper as big as he was,” but since he started running his grandmother Grace’s china shop, he feels calmer. Repeating Granny’s mantra—“Grace, grace. Nothing broken to replace”—Clovis carefully unpacks and stacks fine porcelain. One day some former football rivals appear outside the shop, mocking Clovis by calling him a “wimp” and a “bull in a china shop.” His anger rising, Clovis feels the urge to charge, but deep-breathing techniques help him ignore the hecklers. On dusting day, Clovis happily polishes glassware when the hecklers return, insulting his cleaning efforts. Stroking the cat, Clovis again keeps his cool. They come back once more as Clovis arranges a tea display in the window. When the hecklers insult Granny Grace and break her favorite teacup, Clovis is “all out of grace.” Leaving smashed china in his wake, a raging Clovis chases the cowering hecklers into an alley, where he composes himself to channel Grace, then offers them tea, with surprising results. Painterly illustrations cleverly juxtapose Clovis, with his menacing horns and barrel-chested, bulging-biceps, linebacker physique, with the rather fussy china shop. Humorous scenes of Clovis meditating in lotus pose, lighting candles, pouring tea into delicate cups, and arranging flowers contrast with powerful close-ups of his brief descent into raging-bull mode, enhanced by exaggerated facial expressions and dramatic lighting.

A heartwarming, funny lesson in keeping one’s cool.