ALA Booklist (Tue Nov 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

This follow-up to Lily and Bear (2015) opens on the titular girl sulking under a red umbrella below colorful yet tempestuous skies, thick with clouds and rain. Today, Lily is in a terrible mood, and the usual things that make her happy aren't doing the trick. Even a magical to-do list, including "polish stars" and "jump really very high," won't send her blues away. When Bear arrives on the scene, emerging fully formed and hulking from Lily's drawing, he knows just what the problem is: Lily has "grumpy feet." Bear proceeds to try a variety of remedies, from happy shoes to sticky cake, but an imaginary voyage to the stars (plus the company of a caring friend) is what finally puts Lily in a better mood. Stubbs describes Lily's mood with rhymes and playful made-up words ("everything felt grouchy and mouchy"), nicely complementing the bright, effervescent illustrations, packed with jostling, colorful designs and patterns on crisp, white backgrounds. The closing end pages, of a cloudless, starry sky, are the perfect conclusion to this rainy-day read-aloud.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2017)

Young Lily feels grouchy, so she draws Bear, who comes to life. He takes out his stethoscope and diagnoses "grumpy feet!" Bear ultimately cures Lily by following her "Things to do..." list, which says (after "Draw bear"), "Drive to the Moon." This successor to Lily and Bear has the original story's perky narration and cheery screen-printed illustrations, but not its emotional complexity.

Kirkus Reviews

A bear steps out of a drawing to chase away a bad mood.Today is not quite right. On a day so "grouchy and mouchy, out of sorts and discombobbled"-a day when the teapot's spout droops downwards-even drawing doesn't help: Lily's pencils are "too pointy, her paint too sloshy." Still, she brings herself to draw Bear, who steps from the huge piece of paper into Lily's room, alive. With toy medical equipment and goodwill, Bear diagnoses Lily with "grumpy feet." Googly-eyed slippers-bigger than Lily's head-don't help; a serving of sticky cake doesn't help. But if Bear can set them on a journey "past the rainy day" toward someplace "that glows all comfy, not frumpy and bumpy," Lily's feet may cheer up-they may even tap, wiggle, giggle, and jump. That place is the starry night sky, where they fulfill Lily's list of goals, including "polish[ing] stars" and "jump[ing] really very high." Stubbs' screen-printed illustrations offset vibrant crayon-y textures with the occasional childlike style of Lily's drawings. Lively scribbles run page to page, connoting weather and mood. The morose teapot sits on the floor in one scene, dripping down onto a different scene, in which its droplets become rain from a scribbly cloud. Lily has pale pink skin, a red-tipped nose, and a lower lip that sticks right out. Stubbs tackles an evergreen topic and does it very well. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In this follow-up to Lily and Bear, nothing seems right to Stubbs-s heroine, Lily: -The day was too rainy, the teapot was too dribbly, and the sunshine color was missing.- After Lily again draws her friend Bear into existence, he diagnoses her with -grumpy feet- and sets out to improve her mood. With its crayony scrawls, bright colors, and childlike renderings, Stubbs-s artwork immerses readers in Lily-s world, which expands fantastically as Lily and Bear venture into outer space to visit the moon, polish the stars, and locate a baby unicorn. The language can get a bit gushy at times, but Stubbs offers concrete ideas (make a list of things to do, put -happy shoes- on those grumpy feet) that could help some children turn around their own -grouchy and mouchy- days. Ages 4-8. Agent: Jodie Hodges, United Agents. (Jan.)