The Bad Mood and the Stick

by Lemony Snicket, Matthew Forsythe (Illustrator)

Lemony Snicket sheds light on the way bad moods come and go.
Once there was a bad mood and a stick. The stick appeared when a tree dropped it. Where did the bad mood come from? Who picked up the stick? And where is the bad mood off to now? You never know what is going to happen.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Emotion, Humor, Storytime, Mental Health

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 3, 2017

About the author

Lemony Snicket had an unusual education and a perplexing youth and now endures a despondent adulthood. His previous published works include the thirteen volumes in A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Composer is Dead, and 13 Words. His new series is All The Wrong Questions.

For A Series of Unfortunate Events:
www.lemonysnicket.com

For All The Wrong Questions:
www.lemonysnicketlibrary.com

Reviews

[Donalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

An angry man walks into a dry cleaner with muddy pants. Against the dry cleaner's wishes, he takes off his pants, then chats her up. They fall in love and get married. Odd.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the idea, a bad mood is passed on, how true. I really like the bad mood cloud, very cute, the illustrations are skilful and interesting, 5 stars for those. The storyline was interesting and we both read this one independently and it kept us engaged and wanting to know what happens. If the scene about a man needing to wash his overalls wasn't included (other reviewers have gone over these issues) I think we would have rated this highly. I don't know why this was included. I can see several ways this is offensive.

[Jessica Furtado · Rating 2 out of 5]

As many other reviewers have noted, the problematic interaction between Old Man Lou and the dry cleaner Mrs. Durham really ruins this book. It wasn't a terribly engaging or inventive book to begin with, but when Lou takes off his pants after Mrs. Durham tells him not to, and she then finds it endearing rather than mortifying, that really did it for me. I don't think that this book will appeal to children or adults. The story is a bit confusing for kiddos, and most parents will be irked by the dry cleaner incident. The only thing I liked about this book was the adorable little "Bad Mood" cloud. I would have given this one star, but the illustrations were well done and deserve a much higher rating than the story itself.

[Riley · Rating 1 out of 5]

First off, this book just doesn't make any sense to me. People get in a better mood once something nasty happens? What?

But the real, glaring issue is that an incredibly rude man takes off his pants after a woman tells him not to and she somehow is won over by his underwear clad body and marries him? What??

Another picture book where people seem to gloss over the effed up message and just see the funny...except I don't see the funny. At least with XO, OX: A Love Story I could see what people liked about it. This pos? Not so much.

[Aliza Werner · Rating 1 out of 5]

What?!😳 So much is problematic in this PB that I don't know where to begin. The worst? A white, angry man walks into a dry cleaning business, demands a woman of color who owns the place "take that pencil outta your ear...wash these pants and wash them quick", drops his pants...and she falls in love with him. So much NO.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that they avoided the too-obvious choice of having the bad mood get passed along in a direct way from one person to the next. Nice reminder that you don't *have* to accept the bad mood someone is trying to spread to you.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this funny tale of how a bad mood is passed around, and all the things that made people happy again. Matthew Forsythe's art was the perfect companion.

[Heather · Rating 1 out of 5]

Somehow all the journal reviews of this book missed the jolly take on sexual harassment and disregarding consent--no doesn't mean no. In fact, when you take off your pants in front of a woman and she sees your underpants, she's happy and not mad and she falls in love and you get married and everyone else is happy too. This book is some 1950s train-wreck published in 2017. I can't even. Is Harvey Weinstein ghostwriting as Lemony Snickett?

[Laura · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Holy moly!”

I love what Lemony Snicket brings to the picture book world. His quirky, weird, wonderful stories add something different to the lessons and sweetness for kids. BUT his humor walks a fine, fine line between imaginative and strange. A line that makes him stand out from the crowd. A line that I adore him for! If he gets it right. The unpredictability is part of the Snicket magic though.

“You never know what is going to happen.”

The Bad Mood and the Stick shows how a bad mood can travel from person to person perfectly in a simple and easy to understand manner. We watch as the mood jumps from Curly’s Mom to Lou to the cat! Everyone bumped into and picked up the bad mood for some reason or other. I liked how the bad mood cloud’s path showed how our feelings can influence and affect the people around us, but the story felt all over the place to me. I didn’t see the smirky sense of humor or charm or fun I usually encounter in a Snicket tale. If anything it felt a bit mean to me—like when Curly’s Mom laughed at Lou falling or Curly poking her brother with the stick. And I didn’t feel as if Snicket captured the connection to the stick on the page. Yes, the stick moved from person to person or animal to animal much like the mood did, but the story didn’t pull it all together in a one big “Aha!” moment. I guess I missed the humor in this one.

Muted rainbow colors ruled the pages here, but they didn’t seem to fit the bad mood cloud. The illustrations still had some cute moments though. I loved when Mom tucked the mood under her arm! The little details added the joy for me. I liked the look on Napoleon’s face and the little bird in the tree. Haha…Cute little details that made me search the pages for more.

If you are a Snicket fan, perhaps it is worth the risk, but sadly I cannot recommend this book for young readers.

**After my third reading** I still didn’t enjoy the story, but it did inspire me to reach out to other readers. It’s my newest “here-read-this-and tell-me-what-you-think” book. :D I love hearing what other people think about the stick and the bad mood.

[Abigail · Rating 2 out of 5]

A stick falls from a tree. A little girl walks around in a bad mood, as represented by the dark cloud hanging over her. Then the girl finds the stick, pokes her brother, and feels better. The mood and stick continue to be passed around, traveling from one person to the next in unexpected ways because, as the narrator continually tells us, you never know what is going to happen...

Humor is transgressive. It is also completely idiosyncratic. I would imagine that some people will find the scene in which grumpy Lou strips off his mud-strained trousers, despite the protests of Mrs. Durham, the proprietor of the dry cleaning establishment to which he has come, quite funny. Judging by the online reviews, many others find it problematic. For my part, I was neither offended nor amused, and that about sums up my response to the book. I didn't dislike The Bad Mood and the Stick, but I didn't particularly like it either, despite appreciating what I take to be the central idea - namely, that emotions can be transmitted from person to person, and that they can dissipate in unexpected ways - and despite enjoying other books by both author Lemony Snicket and illustrator Matthew Forsythe.

[Remy · Rating 2 out of 5]

the pros: matthew forsythe’s adorable watercolour art. the ice-creams. the character designs.

the cons: THE DRY-CLEANER’S SHOP BIT?????

[Drew Canole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm just reading all the Matthew Forsythe illustrated books! He's pretty fantastic, and this one is no different.

Lemony Snicket provides the story about a cloud of Bad Mood getting passed on from person to person. Thankfully once the Bad Mood passes, things typically turn out well.

[Jillian · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not understand how this is a book for children. When a White man goes into a dry cleaner owned by a Black woman and drops his muddy pants (after she explicitly expresses not to) and then while he's there in his underwear she doesn't get into a bad mood, but instead falls in love with him and three years later marries him. What message is this sending to kids? Why was it published? That element takes away from any message it might have about getting rid of bad moods - not to mention the bad mood seems to just go right to the next person and that's how you get rid of it, by seeing someone else's misfortune. NOT recommended.

[The Library Lady · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is a mean spirited streak in some of the picture books I've read in recent years. I can't blame The Fake President a.k.a. IQ-45, because this nastiness goes back toThis is Not My Hat and probably even further still. It isn't snarkiness. Snarkiness I can handle. It's meanness, sheer and simple.

Now I freely admit I've never been into Lemony Snicket. (My new assistant loves his books, and she also loves Fancy Nancy, but she's a great girl, and I hired her anyway.) But even if I didn't know who'd written this book, I would hate it. People lose their bad mood by seeing something unfortunate or embarrassing happening to other people. A kid enjoys poking her brother with a stick. Her mom laughs at a man who has fallen in the mud. Etcetera, etcetera. What a great example of how to behave towards others.

But oh, no, this is "Lemony Snicket" so the usual asshats who raved about the other mean books will rave about this one. As in Big Name Children's Librarian/Author and her cadre of "Kid Lit Drink Night" dopes.

The one star is for the artwork. It's equally mean, but it's got a nice retro vibe going. And both of my girls when younger were big fans of "Adventure Time," and the illustrator was lead designer on that. Here's hoping he gets better material to illustrate next time.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great illustrations; they set the right tone. The story missed the mark for me. I get what it was trying to do, and I like what it was trying to do... but it just didn't quite get there. I think it could help a kiddo in a bad mood see that the bad mood will move on eventually, but I hope they would try to kick their bad mood out the door instead of passing it on to someone.

[Marina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was so weird. Nothing made sense. There's no reason why it would take a bad mood to make everything right (as the book jacket suggests). Especially when it involves a sister poking her younger brother with a stick (after not getting ice cream), or an old dude stripping down to his tighty-whiteys and ordering a woman, in her place of business, to wash his pants immediately. No thanks. Plus, that poor cat, who didn't do anything, got stuck with the bad mood. And I don't even know what was really going on with the stick.

[Laura Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have to revise my initial review. Every time I read The Bad Mood and the Stick I like it more and more. It is clever, unusual and pretty honest. The illustrations are illuminous, creative and just plain old stunning. The illustrator's bio says he was in a bad mood the entire time he was making the pictures. I find that hilarious! A different and beautiful book.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a goofy and surrealist story about how the two titular objects affect a variety of people, animals, and events. The illustrations are very cool and have a fun, retro quality. As many others have noted in the reviews, there is some rather unfortunate modelling of behavior among the adult characters--so I'll just let you read the multiple reviews that already explore this in more detail.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pages about the guy taking his pants off do send a disturbing message to kids, yes. If that happened to me, I would have called the police. Someone should probably have a chat with Mr. Snicket.

I still laughed out loud a time or two and I do enjoy the artwork.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wow... I can't say there are a lot of picture books that I've hated, but this is definitely one of them. Dude walks into a cleaner's shop and takes all his clothes off after the lady there specifically tells him not to? Who thought that was a good idea?!?! And THEN they get married?! Wtf.

[Madeline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have seen so many bad comments about this book…I think people are too serious these days.

[Turrean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quirky and silly. Adults will roll their eyes but kids will roar at the bad mood bubble, the mud puddle, and the underwear.

[Everett Earles · Rating 3 out of 5]

*no comment from the baby*
Dad was confused. Mom liked the illustrations.

[Tracy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charming. Went looking for Maurice Sendak at the library and this was nearby. Yay!

[Kristy McRae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. Snicket does it again! Lovelovelove everything he does.

[Amina (ⴰⵎⵉⵏⴰ) · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
The illustrations were gorgeous but I wasn't really compelled by the storyline

[Bkrieth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a unique little story with some humor, some great meta touches and a curious soft focus art style. I can’t help that I am stuck on the fact that Mrs. Durham falls in love with Lou when she sees him in his undies.

[CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cute and funny book. Who doesn't understand that traveling/ shared bad mood? The poor stick was just along for the ride. The art is charming and evocative, especially of the moods. I think kids will think it's funny and perhaps it can start some good conversations about moods.
HOWEVER, there is a small element to the story that just bothers me more the longer I think about it. Among the various mood-altering calamities that happen, a (white) man gets his pants dirty. He goes to a dry cleaner to have the pants cleaned, and tells the (black) woman who runs the shop that he is going to take off the pants. She tells him no, but HE DOES IT ANYWAY. Then, once his pants are off, SHE DECIDES SHE LIKES HIM. I honestly don't mind that sort of wink, wink, nudge, nudge of risque humor to the adults reading the story, even in a picture book like this. But I have serious concerns about the implications of a woman saying no, a man doing it anyway, and then her deciding she likes him and being OK with what he did. I think it's creepy and problematic and plants the wrong ideas about consent and relationships in impressionable young minds. Because of that, I really can't in good conscience recommend the book, especially since it's not a page incident, like much of the book, but becomes a running theme in the rest of the story. Lemony Snicket, what were you thinking? Your book has put me a in a bad mood.

[Kelly Mangan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The art in this book is wonderful. Stunningly beautiful. I give it a star for the art alone.

I like the idea behind the story: that bad moods float around and can be transferred from one person to another via our actions.

But there is an extremely problematic scene in this book where a rude man demands that the woman who owns the laundromat wash his pants for him, and— even though she tells him NO— he strips down to his underwear in front of her anyway. She’s so smitten by the sight of this rude man in his underwear that they get married.

The messages here about consent— and ignoring a woman when she’s flat out telling you no— is deeply, deeply troubling. There’s no excuse for it in a book published in 2017.

I recently learned that the author has been accused of sexual harassment by many many authors, librarians, & other women in the industry— which makes this scene even more upsetting.

[Kelsey]

I️ felt pretty weird about the man taking his pants off, the dry cleaner asking him to put them back on, him refusing, and her thinking that was fine. I️ guess reading this the same week the Louis C.K. allegations finally broke was bad timing, but all the alarm bells went off in my brain.