No One Is Angry Today

An illustrated collection of thought-provoking stories about how anger doesn’t always have to be angry, with illustrations from Marc Boutavant.

In ten thoughtful, philosophical, absurd tales by master storyteller Toon Tellegen, the forest animals—from squirrel to scarab beetle—spend their days as friends do, with birthday parties, writing letters, visiting, dancing, or sometimes all alone. Each day brings emotions that are always worth exploring, although not always easy, and each story reveals new layers through the expressive, touching and funny illustrations of Marc Boutavant.

This wry and nuanced illustrated storybook gently shows that anger, in all its shapes and sizes, is a natural, necessary and often misunderstood emotion. Written by one of the greatest Dutch authors for children, this wise and gently written collection is perfect for children wanting to explore and learn more about difficult emotions and feelings, making it an ideal book to read together with family or in the classroom, for readers aged 6-12 years.

Other books by Toon Tellegen and Marc Boutavant:

The Day No One Was Angry

“"From the Netherlands via New Zealand, 10 short stories with casts of animal characters examine varying aspects of anger, whether overt, subtle, or suppressed. In the first tale, a firebelly toad's anger takes the form of harsh and violent attacks on other animals, causing them great pain. The toad demands expressions of anger from the victims but perceives their anger as not real or strong enough. The victims are upset because they cannot understand the immensity of the firebelly toad's anger. In another story, a squirrel is sad that his ant friend has gone away; he cannot be angry but waits patiently for the ant's return--but his anger is displaced, strangely enough, onto the walls of his home. Most of the tales involve animals in varying stages of anger, some directing it inward, some lashing out at others, some fearing another's anger, and some letting it go. Many of the male animals are actively aggressive, while many of the females display stereotypes. The ant needs to be rescued, the praying mantis is a fashionista, and the frog displays jealousy. Boutavant's rich, nuanced illustrations depict the animals as expressing human emotions and living in humanlike dwellings while still remaining true to their species in appearance. Youngsters might be quite perplexed by the tales, for Tellegen rarely provides clues to the characters' motivations and often leaves readers to arrive at their own conclusions. They would be well served by reading and discussing the work with a loving grown-up. A challenging exercise in decoding strong human emotions--but worth the effort."--Kirkus Reviews”

"The art is fabulous. Boutavant is the genius behind the early graphic novel series Ariol, and his animals all have such wonderful expressiveness."

"A challenging exercise in decoding strong human emotions - but worth the effort."

Toon Tellegen was born in the Netherlands in 1943. He was a doctor before starting to write for children in the early 1980s. His books are now considered classics of Dutch children’s literature.

Marc Boutavant is a graphic artist, illustrator and comic strip author who has illustrated numerous books for children. He was born in Bourgogne, France in 1970 and lives in Paris.

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