Mrs. Biddlebox

"On a knotty little hill, / In a dreary little funk, / Mrs. Biddlebox rolled over / On the wrong side of her bunk." So begins this rollicking rhyme of a picture-book, as the eponymous Mrs. Biddlebox finds that everything about the day either gives her a headache or makes her grumpy. Finally, having had enough, she uses her magical broom to sweep up the dreary, gray day, baking it (together with some sunshine) into something altogether better. Delightedly feasting on her cake, Mrs. Biddlebox confronts the beauties of the night, before heading to bed...

Having enjoyed author Linda's Smith's Mrs. Crump's Cat, as well as numerous titles from illustrator Marla Frazee, from her own The Farmer and the Clown to Liz Garton Scanlon's All the show more World, for which Frazee was awarded a Caldecott Honor, I was sure that I would enjoy Mrs. Biddlebox, particularly as I have a weakness for witchy picture-books. I was not wrong, and although I had to wait quite a while to read it - the very kind children's librarian at my local branch personally brought a reference copy of the book from another branch, so that I could read it on the library premises - it was worth the wait! The story has a matter-of-factly magical quality that is quite appealing, and the text itself is a pleasure to read. The accompanying artwork is delightful - beautifully expressive, and perfectly suited to the enchanted nature of the tale. The final scenes, in which stars sparkle against a bluish/blackish night, were simply gorgeous! Although Mrs. Biddlebox is never named as a witch, her magical broom, and the fact that she is described at one point as taking "witchety" pleasure in her spell, make it clear that she is. Highly recommend, to all picture-book readers who enjoy magical tales, as well as to fellow fans of Frazee's lovely artwork. I was sad to read, on the rear dust-jacket blurb, that Smith died of breast cancer in 2000, having only penned five picture-books. What a terrible shame! show less

While researching books by Marla Frazee (for my review of “All the World”), I was reacquainted with an old friend; Mrs. Biddlebox. Mrs. Biddlebox by Linda Smith was one of the first book purchases I made as a new children’s librarian. The dark, yet vibrantly exciting cover caught my eye and I wanted to read for myself what this Mrs. Biddlebox was up to. Upon reading the book, I became instantly enthralled and shared the book with all I came in contact with. Then more books were published, and there were more storytimes to prepare for, so eventually, I lost contact with Mrs. Biddlebox. What a joy to find this grumpy woman again. Yes, she does wake up on the wrong side of the bed and just has a dreary awful day, but she doesn’t show more sit around stewing about it! She takes action! Mrs. Biddlebox grabs her brooms and attempts to gather up that bad day so that she can bake it into a cake and eat it! Sounds good to me. If it truly could be done, I’d be eating a lot of cake lately, but alas, it is nice to fantasize, and in the midst of that, gain a bit of hope that the bad days isn’t going to last forever. That’s what Mrs. Biddlebox does; she teaches you to take action, dump that gloomy day, eat it up and move on. You can’t help but smile yourself when you see her smiling face at the end of the book when she looks out into the beautiful night. Know someone who’s having a bad day? Introduce them to Mrs. Biddlebox. show less

In author Linda Smith's two year battle with cancer she may have learned more than her fair share about "waking up on the wrong side of the bunk" but she also learned about how to use her talents to deal with those "dreary little funks." She has given us the delightful story of Mrs. Biddlebox, a very clever and talented witchey lady with a big curly black ponytail who, one day, wakes up in a very dreary funk indeed! Even the singing birds give her a headache. She decides "I will cook this rotten morning! I will turn it into cake! I will fire up my oven! I will set the day to bake!" With a wealth of magical know-how Mrs. Biddlebox does exactly that and the results are tasty! Marla Frazee has illustrated the enchanting Mrs. Biddlebox to show more perfection and helped to create a wonderful picture book filled with humor and whimsy that is guaranteed to cure any dreary funk that might come your way. Enjoy! show less

I was sad to hear that the author of this book died of breast cancer in June 2000. Now I understand the story better and can see it from the author's perspective. She was Mrs. Biddlebox and she wished to just bake a dreadful day into a sweet day. The illustrations go really well with the story.

Story rhymes, is fine. Illustrations make the book. Oh I really want her talent! Making something sweet out of a dreary funk, somehow, would be a life-saving skill.

Which reminds me, don't read the bio of the author on the back flap unless you want to cry.

Nothing like a woman who decides to take matters into her own hands and eliminate a bad day from existence just so she can enjoy a beautiful night.

Marla Frazee's illustrations bring this rhyming text to life. Her images go beyond the actions of the story to really spark one's imagination. And even though it's about an adult, children will laugh at Mrs. Biddlebox's crazy antics while learning an important lesson: that each of us can turn a bad day into something great.