Katie Honors is a good kid, as she tells the reader in the beginning of Sometimes I'm Bombaloo, but sometimes
she is angry. This book describes how a nice and good kid reacts when she gets angry, how her reactions affect others
in her family, and how she eventually resolves her anger.
One of the best parts of this picture book is it shows a child's anger in the hands of the child, and it gives her the
power to resolve it. It doesn't portray the resolution as easy or even as something the child wants to do, but it does
give her the ability and time to do it.
Yumi Heo's painted illustrations are childlike and vary in size and shape from page to page. As Nina Lindsay noted,
the "constantly changing perspective, color, and typeface project Katie's roller coaster of emotions" (Lindsay 2002). One
illustration shows Katie Honors in a zombie like state as she is Bombaloo, while the text says, "I use my feet and my fists
instead of words." Another full spread shows Katie sitting on a black page, acknowledging her need to consider her actions
more fully. Heo's illustrations do an excellent job of portraying the full range of emotions in this picturebook, giving
the story of sense of movement and progress.
This picturebook portrays the universal experience of getting angry through a child's eyes. Situations will be
familiar to young readers, such as taking anger out on a younger sibling and not having a true desire to resolve the anger.
The resolution of Katie's anger is realisitic in that it takes time for her to put her anger aside. It isn't until something
strikes her as funny that she chooses to move on.
Vail, Rachel. Sometimes I'm Bombaloo. Illus. by Yumi Heo. New York: Scholastic Press,
2002.
