Everybody has tantrums—kids, and even moms—in this tender yet funny picture book about an especially impossible-to-put-on pair of shoes.Even when it’s time to put on our favorite shoes and leave the house, and even when that time turns into a tantrum where someone can’t stop screaming, or flopping on the floor, or throwing a shoe across the room, and someone is making their maddest face and everyone else is waiting . . . Even then, nothing can come between the loving bond of a mother and their child. Not even a shoe.
With expressive text from bestselling author Julie Fogliano and timeless art from three-time Caldecott honor medalist Marla Frazee, here is a story that takes readers through a downward spiral of a shoe-inspired tantrum and is a reminder that even in moments of frustration, we are always our most loveable selves.
On sale: February 3, 2026
Age: 2-5 years
Grade: Up to Kindergarten
Page count: 40 Pages
ISBN: 9780593707401
Julie Fogliano is the
New York Times bestselling author of
And Then It’s Spring and
If You Want to See a Whale and several other picture books including
Just In Case You Want to Fly,
When’s My Birthday, and
If I Was the Sunshine. Recipient of the 2013 the Ezra Jack Keats award, her books have been translated into more than ten languages. Julie lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband and three children.
Marla Frazee is the recipient of a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award for Picture Book and a three-time Caldecott Honor winner. She has illustrated many acclaimed picture books, including
All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon,
Stars by Mary Lyn Ray, and
Everywhere Babies by Susan Meyers, as well as her own Farmer Books trilogy,
A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever, and
The Boss Baby, which inspired the DreamWorks Animation film. She is also the illustrator of the
New York Times bestselling Clementine chapter books by Sara Pennypacker.
★ "
[A] compassionate picture book....the creators affirm that love persists through emotionally overwhelming moments, and that one can go back to putting one foot in front of another—shod or otherwise." —
Publishers Weekly, starred review
"
A funny, wrenching affirmation of a parent’s unconditional love." —
Kirkus Reviews
"Fogliano’s stream-of-consciousness, one-continuous-sentence text details a parent’s frustration with a recalcitrant child—but also their mutual unconditional love....Throughout, both text and art portray the situation with
authenticity and understanding—and welcome flashes of humor." —
The Horn Book
