I Am Not Okay

DeGrand, David. I Am Not Okay
July 8, 2025 by Union Square Kids
E ARC Provided by Edelweiss Plus

Fluff Nugget wakes up in a good mood in the Happty Forest, has a healthy yet yummy breakfast (oats and fruit, but with ice cream on top!), and sets off to make everyone around him happy. He and his friends sing a "Goodbye Grumpy Grumps" song to Merry Moose when he has an owie, he reminisces with the burr in his fur, Spike, about when they first met, and  helps Grumpy Skunk share his dirt with his friends. He becomes a little overwhelmed when helping all of his friends dump the grumps means that he doesn't get to the store to get cherries for his ice cream, especially when he has to deal with Doofus Dear getting a joke wrong, and the other deer taking it badly. His singing doesn't go quite as planned, and even though the deer are nice about it, Fluff Nuggest starts descending into a bad mood himself. When his friends keep asking for him to sing the song, he becomes overwhelmed, and when he finally makes it to the store to buy cherries and a friend pleads with him to sing it, he does. The song is a failure, and Fluff Nugget breaks down and admits that he is not okay. The pressure of being the only one to cheer up the entire forest is just too much, and he has a melt down. His friends gather around and try to remember how to sing the song, but when they can't, start making up a new one. At first, this makes Fluff Nugget happy, but he isn't willing to give up control. Eventually, he realizes that it's okay to let other people take over, and he is even able to support Dora, his door knocker, when she has a similar crisis. The moral of the story? It's easier to get cherries delivered than to try to pick them up at the store. 

Strengths: I don't think I have seen such an exuberant character since Kochalka's 2015 The Glorkian Warrior Eats Adventure Pie . Fluff Nugget is ridiculously happy, and trying to make sure everyone around him is the same way, although his friends are so insistent that he becomes stressed. Underneath all of the frenetic happiness, there is a message about self care and pacing oneself. Not surprisingly, DeGrand has written for Mad Magazine, and Simpson and Sponge Bob comics. The illustrations looked familiar, since he created designs for "Weird" Al Yankovic's "Polkamania". 
Weaknesses: I'm not entirely sure of the demographic for this. Will second graders get the deeper messages beneath the goofy humor? Will middle schoolers put up with the over-the-top happiness? The book description says that Fluff Nugget is of "indeterminate species", but I was sure he was a bear, living in a tree like Winnie the Pooh. 
What I really think: I can see this being beloved by school counselors everywhere, but the length doesn't lend itself to read alounds. Fans of Pastis' Squirrel Do Bad or Savage's Laser Moose will find Fluff Nugget's struggles entertaining yet informative.