“Grace, grace. Nothing broken to replace.”

Clovis the bull is an ex-football player with a bad temper… and he just took over his granny’s old china shop. With his mantra and a soothing routine, Clovis finds himself calmer than ever until a group of his old rivals start heckling him from the window.

This picture book features a bull working on his anger management and he goes through all of the recommended practices: breathing, scented candles, calm music, yoga, something to squeeze, etc. Clovis is definitely committed. “I will not lose my cool.” Eventually though, Clovis is “all out of grace” with his tormentors. Though the reader will certainly sympathize with Clovis’s anger, it is made clear that the responsibility for acting on that anger still belongs to Colvis. “He chose the chase. And charged.”

The artwork by Eve Farb sells the Clovis’s emotional state of mind through expressive facial features that are a delight to view.

Recommended for pre-school and young elementary students seeking fun social emotional learning story that doesn’t expect perfection, just to continue the journey.