Even Superheroes Have Bad Days by S. Becker and E. Kaban

When superheroes don't get their way, 
When they're sad, 
When they're mad,
When they have a bad day . . . 

They could use super-powers to kick, punch, and pound,
They could shriek --
They could screech
With an ear-piercing sound. 

You can probably already tell where the storyline of Even Superheroes Have Bad Days is headed, just from those first two paragraphs (each of which is comprised of a two-page spread in this 40-page children's book). There are all sorts of terrible things superheroes could do because of their special powers -- if they just happen to be in a bad mood. And, perhaps a recent movie or two has shown them doing just that.

But, Even Superheroes Have Bad Days is a children's book and, as such, it stays on the positive side. Do superheroes do bad things, just because they're feeling moody? Do they "crush wooden crates and bend metal gates"? Do they "throw trucks and buses across several states"? No, of course not.

They could super-rampage--
They could, but they don't,
Because real superheroes just wouldn't--
They won't!

Nope, instead, they "acknowledge their sorrow, their anger, their pain, as they wait for their super-emotions to wane."

Recommended - It's a nice thought, isn't it, that superheroes are so terrific that they can keep their emotions in check? I confess, Even Superheroes Have Bad Days is not at all what I expected. I had a mental image of how I would have written a book with the exact same title, before my copy arrived from Sterling. But, I love the extreme positivity of Even Superheroes Have Bad Days. I adore the theme: emotions are messy and self-control is an important thing to learn and use. And, the illustrations are marvelous. Meditating superheroes! How cool to plant the idea of meditating to calm down.

I would personally save Even Superheroes Have Bad Days and pull it out only when the lesson of self-control needs to be reinforced, although some superhero-loving children might not being willing to put up with that.  Even Superheroes Have Bad Days is both a fun book to look at and a book that uniquely serves a purpose of reinforcing good behavior, definitely recommended.


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