61. Finn Throws a Fit

Finn Throws a Fit! David Elliott. Illustrated by Timothy Basil Ering. 2009. 32 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Finn likes peaches. Usually. But today, Finn doesn't like peaches. Today, Finn doesn't like anything. Today, Finn is cranky. Anything could happen.

Premise/plot: Finn is having a bad day. Perhaps even a terrible, horrible one. No one knows why. Least of all his parents. Elliott writes to parents, and for parents in this one. The narrative is descriptive and practically perfect in every way.

Thunder in the nursery! Lightning in the kitchen!

He cries. The house floods.

He kicks. An earthquake shakes the world.

But I think my absolute favorite part is:

The FIT goes on and on. It lasts until it doesn't.

My thoughts: I love, love, love, LOVE this one. Who hasn't met a Finn? Who hasn't seen a Finn in action? (I know I've seen Finn in a couple of restaurants.) I love the narrative. I love the descriptions. I love how true-to-life it is. I love how it captures the wild, fierceness of emotions. Some times emotions do RAGE out of control. I love how quotable it is. So much can be communicated by these two simple sentences: "Finn likes peaches. Usually;" and "It lasts until it doesn't."

 This has to be one of my all-time favorite, favorite, favorite books. I think it perfectly captures what it feels like to be BOTH a parent and a child. I think you could easily relate to both at the exact same time.

I do think it captures how heavy and overwhelming emotions can be at times. I think children definitely need to learn from very young age how to deal with--in a healthy way--experiencing all sorts of emotions.

© 2021 Becky Laney of Young Readers