When Sadness Comes To Call: one hell of a picture book

“When Sadness arrives, try not to be afraid: give it a name, listen to it and spend some time together. Maybe all it wants is to know that it’s welcome.”

When Sadness Comes to Call tells the story of a young girl who one day gets a visit from Sadness. It comes unexpectedly and she doesn’t know how to deal with it at first. As you go through the story, you see how her sadness grows as she doesn’t talk about it or address it. Then, you see the ways in which she learns to deal with it and what happens when she’s doing things to keep her sadness at bay – not made it go away completely, but keeping it under wraps for a while. 

This was one of those books that just sprung up on me. It’s not a new book – it’s been out for more than a year now, but I’d never come across it before. I bought it on a whim. (I’m constantly looking for picture books to help me talk to kids about how they’re feeling and big ideas like emotions) What I wasn’t expecting when I opened it was how much it impacted me. It’s the tiny things that always have the biggest amount of punch. It’s the gentleness. It’s the kindness. It’s the innocence of the little girl. 

I love how Sadness is represented in this book. It’s a big blob of blue. I don’t know why we assosciate the colour blue with sadness, but it’s just a thing. As you go through the story, you see Sadness grow and then shrink again. The physical manifestation of how our moods can go up and down. 

This book is full of such BRILLIANTLY simple advice on how to deal with sadness that even as an adult, it hit a chord. How often do we try and distract ourselves from sadness with noise? Sometimes it might be quiet that you need. 

“Listen to it. Ask where it comes from and what it needs”

“If you don’t understand each other, just sit together and be quiet for a while”

I think this book is a MUST HAVE for everyone. It’s such an incredibly simple picture book that deals with a MASSIVE thing in such an effective way. The story of one little girl’s exploration of dealing with her sadness is definitely much like mine, and much like others’ too. I just think this book is really special and it’s going to have the very special job of helping me talk to my class about sadness. Use it in lessons, in assemblies or just read it to your kids… I think it could create some incredibly powerful conversations!

And that’s it! This book as I say is out now (it has been out now for like a year and a bit ha!) go get it! I’ve just spotted there’s a Happiness version of this book now too – yippee!

Have you got any favourite picture books dealing with emotions?
What would your Sadness look like?
What are your favourite tips for dealing with Sadness when it comes to visit?

Talk to me! I’d love to know your thoughts on this brilliant picture book! 

S x