A Wumpus is Born in Bozeman
The Wumpus first appeared in Julia Shaw’s home when her oldest daughter turned two.
One day she had a sweet, easy baby, and the next she…didn’t. The toddler would dissolve into something unrecognizable—furious, inconsolable, unreachable—and then, just as suddenly, she’d be back. Calm. Totally herself. Giggling and wanting cuddles, as though nothing had happened.
Shaw found this transformation both fascinating and completely destabilizing. All of the best-intentioned gentle parenting scripts—validate, redirect, offer choices—felt useless in those moments, and honestly, often counterproductive. They seemed to add fuel to the fire: “Stop breathing!” her daughter would rage, or “Those are not your choices!!”
There was nothing to fix. Nothing to solve.
So Shaw stopped trying.
Instead, she started naming what she was seeing.
“Oh no! Where did my baby go? Where did this Grumpy Wumpus come from?” she would joke.
The Wumpus wasn’t bad. It wasn’t something to correct or control. It was just a state—a temporary, overwhelming feeling that moved through her and then passed. Something that could be noticed together, without rushing it away.
That small shift changed everything.
The Grumpy Wumpus grew out of those moments. The picture book is a simple, read-aloud story about what it feels like to be inside a big mood—and what it looks like, from the outside, to stay close while someone is in it.
Since writing the book, Shaw has learned there isn’t just one kind of Wumpus. Her second daughter recently reached the same age, and her Wumpus shows up very differently. Where her sister would rage and kick and hit, she instead turns into a weepy puddle on the floor.
Other parents and toddlers have started using the Wumpus language in their homes, which has been the most meaningful part for Shaw—seeing it click instantly for both kids and adults.
One of the simplest questions she now asks—what color is your Wumpus today?—has become a kind of shorthand. Not a tool to fix anything, just a way to notice and name what’s there.
There are more Wumpuses coming.
The Grumpy Wumpus is available on Amazon and through IngramSpark, and will be available locally at the Emerson Art Walks this summer.