What Are You So Grumpy About? is a 2003 children's picture book written and illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld.
It is a simple book written as a guide to help children talk about what's bothering them when they are in a bad mood. Many annoying scenarios in a kid's life are covered, including getting gravy in your peas, having to clean your room, stubbing your toe, and having to wear embarrassing clothes.
This picture book provides examples of:
- Agony of the Feet: The illustrations for "Did you get up on the wrong side of the bed?" (which shows a boy about to step on the pointy tower of his toy castle) and "Did you stub your toe?" (self-explanatory).
- Bland-Name Product: On the inside of the cover, the list of "sure cures for grumpiness" includes "snap-together blocks" (Legos).
- Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs: One of the questions is "Did your mom and dad forget to buy your kind of cereal, so you had to eat 'grown-up' cereal?" The favorite cereal (which currently provides that trope's page image) is labeled "Chocolate Frosted Honey-Glazed Pre-Sweetened Marshmallow Nodules" and comes in a colorful box with a picture of a hyperactive, swirly-eyed kid on the front.
- Friendly Tickle Torture: This is revealed to be the "worst" reason for being grumpy, being made to laugh while trying to be grumpy, until you forget why you were grumpy in the first place, complete with an image of a little girl being playfully tickled on her feet.
- Hates Being Touched: "Did your (☐ brother ☐ sister) touch you?????" shows a bunch of germs jumping from the brother's/sister's finger onto the skin of the annoyed kid, with "sibling", "germs", "cooties", "icky stuff", "you", and "actual physical contact" helpfully labeled in the picture.
- Kids Hate Vegetables: "Did your gravy touch your peas?" shows a bunch of peas screaming in horror as they're about to drown in a flood of gravy.
- Long List: In "Did you have to do about a million chores?", the girl's list of chores is so long that the piece of paper it's written on is trailing all the way down to the floor.
- Marshmallow Hell: The illustration for "Did your relatives come over and your grandma gave you a big hug?" is a newspaper article with the headline "Boy Lost In Grandma's Bosom! Search party hears voice — remains hopeful!"."I had just tousled his hair and pinched his cheek," gasped a surprised Ms. Gillett, "then I gave him a bear hug and poof! - he was gone."
- Museum of Boredom: In "Did your dad take you to the most boring museum in the universe?", the kid's dad takes him to a museum exhibit showing "The History of Dirt" and is saying, "Isn't that interesting!" while the kid looks bored out of his mind.
- My New Gift Is Lame: One kid gets a package in the mail on his birthday. He's excited to open it, but it only contains a single pair of plain white underwear.Kid's thoughts: Oh, poop!
Mom: (from offscreen) Oh, that's nice, honey, just what you need! - Nondescript, Nasty, Nutritious: One of the hypothetical problems is having to eat grown-up cereal labeled "100% Organic Whole Grain Wheat and Millet Food Substance: A Regular Food." It's made by "Boring Acres," contains "No Sugar, No Fat, No Fun," and its ingredients include gravel, birdseed, wood chips, corn husks, burlap bags, weeds, and dirt.
- Talking Animal: According to the book, if you're grumpy for a while, a little birdie will come along, sit on your pouting lip, and ask, "What are you so grumpy about?"
- Toilet Humor: "Did someone leave the toilet seat up and you didn't notice?" shows a child falling headfirst into the toilet.
