Sour Cakes

As this charming story progresses, readers are introduced to two sisters in very different moods. The older sibling is joyful and energetic; the younger one is in a cranky funk and takes being “ornery” to a very high level. We all have “ups and downs” and mood swings in our lives, but we don’t all have an amazing sister who has incredible patience with her younger sibling.
Suggestions to lift her sister’s gloomy frame of mind are offered, such as playing outside, colouring a picture together, and baking sweet cakes. Her contrary sister rebuffs her older sister’s ideas each time. Cleverly the older sibling manages to cajole and negotiate with her younger sister, even allowing her to vent her frustrations until she is in a better frame of mind.

Krossing presents young readers with an interesting life lesson here. It is okay to be cranky once in awhile, especially if you are lucky enough to have someone in your life who can validate your feelings and who can offer solutions with a simple final strategy, “What do you want?” The response: “I want fog to crash down on big monster feet.” The sour mood is slowly lifted by the ingenuity of the older sister who accepts her younger sister’s negativity.

The illustrations capture the high and lows of the different moods, with action-packed simple drawings. The use of a bluish grey cloud to indicate a “sour mood’ is very effective. Readers are able to see the overwhelming discontented fog that imbues the younger one being slowly lifted by the positivity of the older sister. Even the different sizes of the text play a role in portraying the feelings described.

Sour Cakes, a sensitive story, presents a great opportunity for discussing feelings, how we can express them, and the importance of empathy.