Good News, Bad News

by Jeff Mack

Overview

A charming picture book about friendship and looking for the bright side: “This offering is, to borrow the rabbit’s two words, good news.” —The Horn Book Magazine
 
Good news: Rabbit and Mouse are going on a picnic. Bad news: It is starting to rain. Good news: Rabbit has an umbrella. Bad news: The stormy winds blow the umbrella (and Mouse!) into a tree.
 
So begins this clever story about two friends with very different dispositions. Using just four words, Jeff Mack has created a text with remarkable flair that is both funny and touching, and pairs perfectly with his energetic, and hilarious, illustrations.
 
Good news: Kids will want to read this story again and again!
 
“There really isn’t any bad news about this delightful book.” —Bookends, a Booklist Blog

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452118536
Publisher:	Chronicle Books
Publication date:	03/22/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	40
File size:	6 MB
Age Range:	3 Months to 11 Years

About the Author

Jeff Mack is the author and illustrator of many books for young readers including Hush Little Polar Bear, Frog and Fly, and Clueless McGee. He lives carefree in Western Massachusetts where all the clouds have silver linings and everyone's glass is half-full.

Editorial Reviews

Mack’s clever book may follow the format of Remy Charles’s Fortunately, Unfortunately, but his take on the theme is flat-out hilarious. Apart from the closing line, the text contains only the four words of the title. “Good news!” says a cheerful rabbit, showing a picnic basket to a mouse seen leaning out of its hole. “Bad news,” says the mouse as rain begins to fall. The rabbit is ready with an umbrella (“Good news”), but the mouse blows away after grabbing it (“Bad news”). Mack’s mixed-media illustrations are both slapstick and droll as the duo fights off bees, runs from a rampaging bear, and gets hit by lightning. When the mouse loses its temper in a two-page tantrum, the rabbit’s spirits finally plummet. Mack (Frog and Fly) portrays the rabbit in a puddle of tears, and amusingly depicts the mouse’s epiphany with the sun breaking through the clouds, as if the book were a Cecil B. DeMille movie. This well-executed, rapid-fire book should satisfy even the most resistant readers. Ages 3–6. Agent: Rubin Pfeffer, East West Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Young listeners are certain to clamor for this one again and again . . . and that is good news.” - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Good news, this isn’t just a book about attitude, it also hits home the message about the importance of friendship. Bad news, there really isn’t any bad news about this delightful book" - Bookends, a Booklist Blog

FamilyFun Magazine's "Our Favorite Things"

"Sometimes the most brilliant picture books can teach us more in fewer words than even "great" literature can. Good News, Bad News is one of those books. " - WABC-TV

"Will allow you to teach lessons about the importance of a good attitude" - SavvyAuntie

"Very cute... I also appreciated that there were a few good messages thrown in about friendship and the power of staying positive!" - BookingMama

"May feature just four short words, but it’s extra-long on heart- Daily Candy Kids

"Good for storytimes or independent reading" - School Library Journal

"A gentle, entertaining way to bring up the concept of looking for the positive." - Design Mom

"A fun book about looking at the bright side of things" - GeekDad

44 Books that Teach Sympathy - Common Sense Media

"This offering is, to borrow the rabbit’s two words, good news." - The Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 1—-When optimistic Rabbit and unlucky Mouse go on a picnic, there is plenty of good news and bad news. Some good news-umbrella, apples, cake, cave. Some bad news-rain, worms, bees, bear. Unfortunately, all the bad seems to happen to Mouse, who eventually has a hissy fit that makes Rabbit cry. But as the sun breaks through the clouds, Mouse makes it all better with a peace offering of the picnic basket and a hug. Mack creates a solid story arc using only the phrases "good news"/"bad news," and his illustrations. Indeed, the art is the heart of this picture book, offering excellent depictions of events and facial expressions. When Mouse finally snaps, his understandable anger and frustration come through loud and clear. This title fits into the niche containing Remy Charlip's Fortunately (S & S, 1984) and Michael Foreman's Fortunately, Unfortunately (Andersen, 2011). Good for storytimes or independent reading or independent looking.—Catherine Callegari, Gay-Kimball Library, Troy, NH

School Library Journal

Working from a text composed solely of the titular phrases (plus one final qualifier) in an ongoing call and response, Mack depicts a day among friends whose dispositions couldn't be more extreme. Rabbit is an optimist; framed by a soft, white cloud, he exhibits an overflowing picnic basket joyfully to his buddy. An ominous, grey formation shades Mouse's skeptical reaction. When the storm begins, the fun-lover produces an umbrella; the frowner is blown into a tree. Happily, it's an apple tree. Unhappily, the fruit descends forcefully on the fallen rodent. So it proceeds in a fashion reminiscent of Remy Charlip's Fortunately (1964). The difference here is that viewers see the events through two distinct lenses, and the pair are not only experiencing the same situations, they are mindful of one another's reactions. The artist manipulates body language and facial features to register a range of emotions through caricatures with personality to spare. Endpapers divided into 18 squares contain images than can inspire a variety of storytelling behaviors from prediction to sequencing. When a bear chases the duo up a flagpole, and lightning fries them to charred silhouettes (à la cartoons of yesteryear--sensitive readers beware), Rabbit's worldview is clearly rocked, but now it is Mouse's turn to find the silver lining. An instructive and entertaining primer on the art of friendship and the complexity of joy. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews