The Three Grumpies

by Tamra Wight, Ross Collins

A hilarious romp through one little girl's bad day-she wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, and all day the three Grumpies: Grumpy, Grumpier and Grumpiest, follow her around. She tries everything to get rid of them: stomping, hollering, and even ignoring them. But they only grin and retaliate by tripping her or splattering paint on her brand-new shirt. It seems she will never be rid of them...until a little smile creeps across her face and with an arsenal of giggles she soon manages to make the Grumpies flee.

Genres: Picture Books

32 pages, Hardcover

First published October 6, 2003

About the author

My first middle-grade eco-adventure Cooper and Packrat: Mystery on Pine Lake was launched by Islandport Press in Aug 2013. Now there are five books in the series! Mystery of the Missing Lynx is being released June of 2022. Carl DiRocco is the genius behind the illustrations.

I'm also the author of The Three Grumpies, illustrated by Ross Collins.

For twenty-eight years, I ran Poland Spring Campground in Maine with my husband and two children. Wildlife watching from the camp's trails, kayaking Lower Range Pond, and my family's day-to-day camp chores inspired the Cooper and Packrat adventures. I now work as a teaching assistant, and my students inspire me daily.

Some of my favorite activities are wildlife photography, geo-caching, campfires with s'mores, snowshoeing, hiking and sailing Casco Bay, Portland, Maine. I also like to hide in the Maine woods under my "cloak of invisibility", a huge poncho-shaped camouflage covering, with my camera pointed at passing porcupines, coyotes, deer or fox. You can read more about me, my books and see my wildlife photography at www.tamrawight.com.

Happy Reading!

Reviews

[Tamra]

This is my first published picture book. It's been published in German, Dutch, English and Korean.

[juju ☆ 𓆝 𓆟｡𖦹°‧ 𓇼𓆞]

The illustrations in this book scratched my 10 year old brain in a way that nothing else could

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to read this with 3rd grade because we are doing an author Skype with Tamra Wight. I like the "zen" message - when the little girl is bothered by the Grumpies, they get stronger and more troublesome and when she can smile and laugh at her bad day, it takes the wind out of the Grumpies' sails.

Because of the use of comparative and superlative adjectives, it would be a great book to kick off a writing activity with ESL students.

I'd like to get 3rd graders writing so they can follow up by asking a real author about her writing process and what's fun, and what's hard about writing. I'm hoping this kind of conversation might motivate students in their own writing.

I'm not sure what angle to take with the lesson however - introducing a chart of comparative and superlative adjectives and sharing spelling rules - i for y in adjectives ending in "y" - double the consonant when the adjective ends with a vowel-consonant pattern - is probably going to alienate and piss off 3rd graders because it's not really developmentally appropriate. But spelling patters are the thing I find most interesting about comparative and superlative adjectives and I would like to share my passion.

So I'm still thinking about what small writing activity might engage 3rd graders.

They could start a story using another story using adjectives - Fat, Fatter and Fattest as characters - or Old Older and Oldest as characters - but I'm not sure how to set it up.

[Kat · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kid LOVES this book. We got it from the library 3 weeks ago, and have read it on average once a day since then.

A little girl wakes up on the wrong side of the bed one morning, and is met by three Grumpies. As the day goes on, she elicits advice from various adults on how to get rid of the Grumpies, each resulting in more taunting by the Grumpies.

The pictures are colorful and fun, and the story is easy to follow for a 3 year old. Last night I heard my daughter tell my husband that she tried to read the story to herself, but couldn't, so she needed his help. I love that she liked the story so much that she wanted to read it to herself!

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a very cute book and every individual could relate to it. It is a story about a young girl waking up on the wrong side of the bed. My favorite part about this book was all of the funny illustrations. I think we have all felt the way this little girl was feeling at some point in our lives.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Potentially good readaloud for group of older kids about feelings. Cute pictures and fun text.

[Erica Eyestone]

Good story about how you are in charge of your own mood. If you smile and laugh the grumpies won't stay around.

[Amanda Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a little girl who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. She finally figures out a clever way to get rid of thr grumpies.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it! So cute!