When her sister snatches a stuffed gorilla out of Sophie’s hands, announcing that it’s her turn to play with it, young Sophie gets so angry that she kicks and screams, roars a “red, red roar,” and feels like a volcano, ready to explode. Rather than striking out, however, Sophie dispels her anger by running outside into her backyard and climbing a treewhere “the wide world comforts her.” Bang’s obvious respect for the intensity of a young child’s emotions comes through in an understated narrative that follows the perfect arc of a tantrum. Little Sophie’s “red, red roar” is followed by some time alone which allows her to put the pieces of her world back together again. A spare, subtly rhyming text varies syntactical patterns to reflect Sophie’s changing mood, offering a quiet contrast to the loud, exaggerated visual depiction of Sophie’s anger and eventual denouement. (Ages 2-7) Winner, 2000 Charlotte Zolotow Award

Losing to her sister in a fight over a coveted toy gorilla, Sophie simply has a fit: "She kicks. She screams. She wants to smash the world to smithereens." And when "She roars a red, red roar," the energy and intense color of the illustrations burn the page. Then Sophie figures it all out, by being alone, climbing a tree, and letting the wide world comfort her.