Review Detail

The Yowlers is about a family who is always in a bad mood, papa grumbles, mama yells, Sara and Sonya are always bickering, and the baby is so fuzzy all day. They are so confused when their new neighbors move in and smile at them. The new kids ask Sara and Sonya to play with them which just confuses them, but it does make them feel good to be treated kindly. The sisters suddenly are acting nicer, making Mama and Papa wonder if something is going on but it turns out that kindness is powerful and can transform others' moods.

What I Liked: I was captivated by the title and front cover of this book before reading what it was about. I was interested in knowing how this story would go and expected it to be a story about monsters. I was quite pleased in what I found inside this book and love the message that was sent. I appreciate the ways we first got to meet the Yowlers and learn of their daily habits before those changed.

I love that the yowlers look like monsters in the books because their personalities and colors match their moods. As they start being kinder to one another their horns diminish and their colors fade until the end of the book in which they don’t look like monsters at all. I appreciate that the end points out that there are still moments in which the Yowlers are grumpy showing that this is a natural feeling but not a state one should permanently be in.

Final Verdict: The Yowlers is a cute children’s book that shows the power of kindness and how one act of kindness can transform someone’s life. Children will enjoy learning about the Yowlers and the antics they are up to before they receive kindness from others. Adults will enjoy how this book teaches children to cope with large feelings and how to be accountable for the actions they take because of those feelings.