Be witness to what happens inside a closed cardboard box during Jerome’s very bumpy journey...

Bound for a foster home one snowy evening, 14 stuffed animal toys are bounced around inside a cardboard box in the back of a truck. Jerome, a brown puppy, is convinced that the children won’t like him once they set eyes on the other animals and all their wonderful attributes. And each face has a BIG SMILE... each face, that is, except Jerome’s.  HIS smile has accidentally been sewn upside-down.  His face has a frown.

So he’s sad... and terribly insecure.  Jerome feels too big next to the bunny, but too short next to the giraffe. His nose is too small next to the elephant’s, but too long next to the monkey’s.  Unhappy and intimidated by all the critters’ colors and features, he feels too plain, too dull... and too scared to face the kids.

Eventually he bumps into Pierre* the teddy bear who, like Jerome, is plain and brown.  But UNLIKE Jerome, Pierre’s face has a big smile, like the rest
of the animals. The pup is curiously charmed with the bear and his confidence, marveling at how happy and comfortable he is in his own skin (or fur).

Through Pierre and the others, a welcoming voice and some loving children (as diverse as all the animals), Jerome ultimately overcomes his fears and insecurities.  And slowly but surely, as his sadness fades, he discovers how it feels to have a smile on HIS face, too.  Told in verse with touches of humor, his story hopes to leave you feeling the same.

*You may not notice Pierre 'til Jerome does, but he does appear somewhere in every box scene.