Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie

Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie
Author: Norton Juster; Illustrator: Chris Raschka
Picture book for grades K-3
3 stars

This is a sequal to The Hello, Goodbye Window and has the same idea of the little girl going to her Nanna and Poppy’s house. Now the question is “Is it Sourpuss or Sweetie Pie?” Sometimes it’s both!

This book doesn’t necessarily continue the story of the Hello, Goodbye Window; it is describing more of the relationship of the granddaughter with her Nanna and Poppy. And how sometimes she can be a real Sourpuss and sometimes she is a Sweetie Pie. I didn’t like this book as much as I liked the Hello, Goodbye Window. It is hard to follow because there isn’t really a story. In the first book, she told us what a day at Nanna and Poppy’s was like. In Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie, every other page is an example of her either being a Sourpuss or a Sweetie Pie. For example on a page it says, “I need a hug, Nanna. The biggest one you’ve got.” Then the next page, “It’s my music and I can play it as loud as I want to – even louder if I want. Don’t you like music?” Towards the end of the book she claims that she can be Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie all at the same time. I like this part of the book because the pictures have two girls in one scene. There is one where Nanna is giving her a bath and it looks like she is washing two girls, one is Sourpuss and the other is Sweetie Pie.

Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie show a lot of different emotions on both ends. One could discuss with your students different feelings or emotions that might describe a Sourpuss or a Sweetie Pie or even someone else. The students could write their own story (nonfiction or fiction) about one or the other or both. I think it is also important to reflect on how our emotions affect the people around us by relating to how Nanna and Poppy might feel when Sourpuss or Sweetie Pie is around.