I Am a Spicy Nugget

by Loryn Brantz

From the New York Times bestselling creator of Feminist Baby and Poems of Parenting comes the hilariously relatable story about a girl whose big emotions turn her into a spicy nugget!

Angry?

Overwhelmed?

Confused that a simple request for a pet penguin has been unreasonably denied?

Then you might be at risk of becoming . . .

A SUPER HOT SIZZLING EXTRA SPICY NUGGET!

Follow one such nugget as she releases fiery fury on all who dare approach (stuffed animals, beware!). But big emotions and even bigger personalities are no match for a little patience and a lot of love—the best remedies for soothing even your spiciest feelings.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

40 pages, Hardcover

Published September 8, 2026

About the author

Loryn Brantz is an Emmy Award–winning author, artist, poet, and director. She is the creator of numerous beloved children’s books, including the best-selling series Feminist Baby and It Had to Be You (Love Poems Your Baby Can See). Her work can be seen on Sesame Street, Elmo's World, Ms. Rachel, and more. Her latest book, Poems of Parenting, is a New York Times bestseller.

Her greatest desire is to make the world a better place through art, even if just a little — but hopefully, a lot. Loryn lives in New York City with her husband, architect Jake J. Brotter, and children, Dalia and Ronen.

Reviews

[Heidi]

When her mother declines to provide a penguin as a pet, a young girl's emotions get the better of her and she becomes a 'spicy nugget'. Depicted as a nugget during her tantrum, the young girl throws her teddy bear, screams, and emphasizes that telling her to 'chill out' doesn't help. But taking a moment to herself, breathing deeply for a few seconds, and hugging herself do help her to regain control and revert back to her adorable self. The teddy's comments soften the danger of flying across the room (the teddy says Wheee! every time). Once calmed down the mother comes in to talk to her. Now that she's calmed down she realizes that she isn't her emotions and she can learn to manage them (although the teddy does go flying again, this time inadvertently). The illustrations combine black lines with dashes of color highlighting the teddy bear and the clothes of mother and daughter. And the last line is an amusing reminder of what often happens when our emotions run away with us. Recommended for both one-on-one reading or use at school. Young readers will likely pick up the book just because of the words Spicy Nugget and the girl with her bright red cheeks on the cover.

[Cindy]

This adorable picture book has a life lesson for all of the young readers who need to learn patience and to learn to manage those big emotions.

This little girl wants a pet penguin. Mom says the dreaded words "not today". The little spicy nugget with her temper screams and gets very angry. She takes her frustrations out on her beloved teddy bear. Screaming at her bear does not solve the problem of being angry. Maybe she can take a walk. Maybe she can sit in her bedroom to calm down. Mom shows patience in waiting for her little spicy nugget child to calm down. This little spicy nugget learns that she can be a proud little person when dealing with all of those big emotions.

The color red is used to show the strong feeling of being very angry and the large print on some of the pages can be used for dramatic reading when the little spicy nugget is yelling. This creates a fun reading experience.

This fun read is recommended for ages 3-5 years of age. It will be available in your favorite book store soon. ISBN 979-8-217-04214-2.

[Stacy DeBroff]

Just from the cover illustration of a girl with flaming red cheeks and red streaks in her wild flowing hair, the tantrums ready to erupt are set to go. When denied a pet penguin by her Mom, the first tantrum consumers the girl, who feels overwhelmingly angry and wanting to act out in rage by throwing her teddy bear across the room.

The girl identifies as being an extra spicy nugget (which seems like a kind way her parents have contextualized her outbursts) and she feels sad after exploding as she didn’t really mean to be “bad.” But she refuses anything that might calm her down…until she starts breathing in and out, in and out.

The girl gives herself permission to be angry as long as no one gets hurt and eventually gets soothed by her Mom . The Mom distinguishes for emotions you experience from who you are as a person, and that growing kids have to gain mastery of their frustration and sadness- which this little girl proudly does.

Seems like a perfect tale for the “terrible-twos!”

[Erika]

A great book to help kids understand their big feelings. This one focuses on anger, and it teaches kids that it's okay to feel these big feelings, as long as no one gets hurt. A good lesson, since keeping it all in isn't healthy, but when we feel spicy, we need to be careful not to burn the people around us, which is probably the most difficult thing to do.

[Raven Black]

I am not the audience for this book as the illustrations were "awkward" for me, plus the story just did not have a "solid" hit. However, if you want a more modern take on the feelings theme (anger) this is a fun book.

[The Loco Librarian]

Such a fun read for showing little people that it’s okay to have big feelings, and that those feelings don’t define you and you have the ability to feel it and then let it go. Love it!