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" Randall de S\u00E8ve believes that reading with your child doesn&amp;#039;t have to be a selfless act\u2014that sharing kids books should be enjoyable for adults, too. She&amp;#039;s excited to recommend some of her favorites in this regular new column, along with fun, story-based activites to go with them.  Mrs. Biddlebox: Her Bad Day...And What She Did About It! by Linda Smith, pictures by Marla Frazee I&amp;#039;m having a bad day. I&amp;#039;ll spare you the details, but suffice it to say it involves a story (mine), a grouchy kid (also mine) and a sore back resulting from a brand-new, cushy (read: expensive) mattress. Mrs. Biddlebox is having a worse day:  But unlike me, she decides to take matters into her own hands, or stomach as is the case in Mrs. Biddlebox: Her Bad Day...And What She Did About It! (Harcourt, Inc., 2007): &amp;quot;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!&amp;quot; With wickedly evocative images by award-winning illustrator, Marla Frazee (Boot &amp;amp;amp; Shoe, The Boss Baby, All the World, a Caldecott Honor book) and clever verse by Linda Smith that never stoops to grab-bag rhymes, this beloved story (my go-to on days like today) gives readers a most useful recipe for turning a bad day into something sweet. Which the witchy Mrs. Biddlebox disposes of with satisfying delight.  Now, if I had the time, I&amp;#039;d go bake my bad day. I&amp;#039;d start with a simple cake, like this one. Then, I&amp;#039;d decorate it with objects that symbolize my bad day: some random edible letters, my daughter&amp;#039;s favorite color frosting, a marshmallow bed.  Then I&amp;#039;d eat it...and, like Mrs. Biddlebox, &amp;quot;welcome in the night!&amp;quot; Randall de S\u00E8ve is the author of New York Times bestseller Toy Boat, The Duchess of Whimsy, Mathilda and the Orange Balloon, and Peanut and Fifi Have a Ball. She also spent many happy years teaching young children in Brooklyn, where she lives with her husband, two daughters, and a very wicked dog named Henry Biscuit. You can contact Randall at her website. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/mom-kids/news/a15482/mrs-biddlebox-and-her-bad-day/>