Elephant wakes up in a grumpy mood, but a present on his doorstep--a hat--cheers him and he sets out to greet his neighbors who all, it seems, need hats of their own.

When her sister succumbs to a mood that makes the whole family feel topsy-turvy, Vanessa paints a wonderful imaginary place--a beautiful garden complete with a ladder and a swing--in a story loosely based on the writer Virginia Woolf and her artist sister, Vanessa Bell.

When a grizzly bear, called Gruff the Grump by other animals, grudgingly listens to a small rabbit's pleas for help, she thanks him with simple gifts that reveal to him how dark and lonely his life has become.

Jim Panzee wakes up in a bad mood one beautiful day, but he keeps denying he is grumpy even as his friends give advice for feeling better.

"A young elephant sees his dad is in a bad mood and tries to cheer him up, not realizing his own mischief caused the bad mood in the first place"--

When it is "Backward Day," Judy must turn her usual sour mood upside down and be happy and nice for a change.

"Have you ever had a grumpy day and not known why? Penguin is having a grumpy day like that. No matter what he does, he just can't shake it! Sometimes the only thing left to do is wash the grumpy day away and start over"--

Ma, Pa, and the rest of the family try a variety of amusing things to get their baby to laugh, but he persists in his bad mood until his brother the sheriff arrives with a challenge.

"Prepare to fall absolutely in love with this irresistible cookie, crumbly chocolate chips and all. OH NO! Barbra the cactus won't stop playing her recorder, the yummy strawberry toothpaste has run out, and now--to top it all off--Cookie has to have his hair cut! Which all makes for one VERY ANGRY little cookie... But perhaps you, the reader, can find a way to turn his grumpy frown upside down?"--

A boy and his father lift one another's spirits by going sledding on a winter's night.