Michael Rosen's Sad Book by Michael Rosen & Illus by Quentin Blake

I don't know about you, but this whole coronavirus thing has me feeling a bit out of sorts. I love being home and I love my family, so I didn't think I would mind staying home all the time. But apparently it isn't as easy as all that. There is a difference between doing something because you want to and doing something because you have to. And then, there is the matter of routine--turns out they are handy things to keep around. 

Emotions. They can be sort of messy and unexpected right now. So this seems like an appropriate book for the moment. 

Of course, this book is much more deep than the sadness of "everything has changed and I am not used to it!" 

Michael Rosen lost his son.

And if you think that is a terrible beginning for a kids book, you are right. But kids are much closer to big emotions than adults who have worked hard to bring emotions under control. Their upset/sorrow over things is so much bigger than adults. 

They get it. 

This is Michael Rosen. As you can read, this is him being sad, but pretending to be happy so people won't dislike him for being sad. 

Sometimes sad is very big. It's everywhere. All over me. 

Eddie, his son. Who he is sometimes angry at for dying. 

Eddie doesn't say anything because he's not here anymore. 

I just want to think about it on my own.

Because it's mine. And no one else's.

The unexpected attacks of sad.

Ways he has found to cope with his sadness. 

Then he discusses other people's grief. 

Memories of Eddie

Sad will always be there. 

But there are times when it is not right in front of you--times when you can laugh and have good days. 

And other days when sad seems everywhere. 

I was sort of surprised by this book--such an honest look at grief for a kids book. People tend to paper over the lumps and uncertainties of sorrow for kids, but I think kids can accept things more readily than adults sometimes. This book will definitely prompt some questions and concerns, but those conversations need to happen at some point. Just be forewarned--don't read this book if you don't have time for questions right then. 

I hope your day/week is not as sad as this. I hope there are lovely moments and sunlight and calm. 

Stay healthy! 

Horrible Bear! by Ame Dyckman & Illus by Zachariah OHora

This book has an unreasonable and feisty redhead as a main character, so it is pretty awesome! 

Here she is, flying her little kite. I think we can assume she is unreasonable at this point, but we just don't know it yet. 

Her kite flew onto bear's tummy. She walks in to retrieve it, but not before bear rolls over and breaks it. 

(Do you see bear's teddy bear?)

She reacts in all her unreasonableness glory. 

She maintains her unreasonableness the whole way home, ruining people's day in the process. Poor Goat just trying to have a picnic! 

She has a cute clothesline! 

I have a thing for clotheslines and I am not sure why. They are just so super!

The dazed bear began to come to. He reviewed his grievances. 

And got an idea....

First he practiced being horrible.

I love this bear and his Froggy Hollow t-shirt. 

They are both charging stompers. 

Annnnnd in all her huff and annoyance, she manages to break her favorite listener. 

All the starch goes out of her. 

Buuuut Bear is still being horrible on his way to see her. 

Poor goat. And squirrel! Do you see the little squirrel with a teacup? She is wearing a dress! So cute! 

He takes that cute clothesline to bits.

And then she apologizes and bear becomes a dear. 

(hahaaha)

And they repair all their horrible behavior damage.

And became friends together. Friends capable of horribleness. But aren't we all? 

(His book titles, in case you need to know these things are as follows:

Blueberries

The Goldilocks Myth

1,000 Ways to Cook Porridge) 

Mama, Do You Love Me? by Barbara M Joosse & illustrated by Barbara Lavallee

This is an Alaska book that I have always loved. Barbara Lavallee's illustrations have hung in Mom's kitchen for as long as I can remember. (Not that that is saying much, since my memories of more than 5 years ago are hazy at best.) So the illustrations in this book feel like a part of my mother. And Barbara Joosse's words fit the pictures just exactly. 

In this book, a little Inuit girl explores the depths of her mother's love. 

How much? do you love me?

Let us talk for a minute about kuspuks--the dress/coat the Native women wear, particularly the summer ones. Winter ones are similar, but meant to go over a parka, so they are bulkier. Since the Inuit had parkas of exactly the same color (grey/tan fur) kuspiks were an opportunity for them to be a little more individualistic. The summer kuspuks are just like a dress with leggings. Really, men wear coats of similar cut, but the women burst forth in more colorful and floral patterns. I adore colors and patterns. I made Lily a kuspuk last fall and she has worn it quite a bit with leggings. Terribly useful! 

Barbara Lavallee draws beautiful kuspuks.  

I love you more than the raven loves his treasure, 

more than the dog loves his tail, 

more than the whale loves his spout.

How long will that love last? Until the impossible.

I'll love  you until the umiak flies into the darkness, 

till the stars turn to fish in the sky,

and the puffin howls at the moon.

But what if I made a mistake? Will you love me still? 

Mama, what if I carried our eggs-our ptarmigan eggs!-and I tried to be careful and I tried to walk slowly, but I fell and the eggs broke?

Then I would be sorry. But still, I will love you. 

(I love how well Joosse catches the cadence and wording of little children.)

What about if I was bad? On purpose? 

Then, Dear One, I would be very angry. But still, I would love you.

I love this little girl, exploring how far she would have to go before her mother would not love her anymore. And I love the truth of her mother's answers. There would be anger, sorrow, but more than that, there would always, always be love. 

I also love the way this book shows some Native crafts and customs. 

Northern lights and dogsleds... !

What if I turned into a musk-ox?  Could you still love me? 

This little girl has reached the worst her little mind can imagine. What if she turned into a polar bear and chased her mother?

But still, inside the bear, you would be you, and I would love you. 

I will love  you forever and for always, because you are my Dear One.

This is such a sweet, honest little book! I want everyone to love it. So love it! 

Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst

As a child of the 80's, I remember this book being everywhere. Or at least it seemed like that. I am pretty sure any person who was ever a kid can relate to Alexander. Those of us, who were mature and grown up at 3, probably cannot relate to Alexander. I am not in the latter group. I remember days where it seemed like the universe was seriously out to get me. As a kid, minor annoyances can gain size and shape far beyond the reality. A little sleep deprivation, disruption in routine, or mysterious forces of nature beyond any parent's ken can magnify the slightest trouble into gigantic, the world is ending! significance. 

And that is what happened to Alexander. He suffers vastly from first world problems. I can just hear the adults in his life telling him to not let such little things bother him. And yet, when we are little, our world is so much smaller. Things that seem little to adults are much bigger in the smaller, insular world of a child. 

Life is hard. 

Brother's can make life harder just by existing. sometimes. 

Alexander decides to move to Australia. 

I love this page--"Who needs sixteen?" There is no logic in grudges on days such as the one Alexander was having. 

Philip Parker had two cupcakes in his lunch pail. But guess whose mother forgot to pack dessert?

Of course, Mom only sees the retaliation. 

Having to settle for the wrong colored sneakers.

Well intentioned mishaps. 

As a final insult, only his train pajamas were clean. 

"My Mom says some days are like that."

" Even in Australia."

I don't think I have seen any other book so totally encapsulate the futility little kids can feel when life is going all wrong. No one understands them and they are powerless to change things for the better in the benevolent dictatorships of school and parents. 

Even as adults, this book still resonates. There will always be days when everything seems to be going wrong. But some days are just like that. 

There is always tomorrow.