When Sadness Is At Your Door by Eva Eland (Children's Picture Book Review)

When Sadness Is At Your Door
by Eva Eland
Published by Random House
on January 29, 2019
Genre: Children's, Picture Books
Length: 32 pages
Ages: 3 - 7 years

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Synopsis:
In the style of Harold and the Purple Crayon comes a picture-book primer in emotional literacy and mindfulness that suggests we approach the feeling of sadness as if it is our guest.

Sadness can be scary and confusing at any age! When we feel sad, especially for long periods of time, it can seem as if the sadness is part of who we are--an overwhelming, invisible, and scary sensation.

Eva Eland brilliantly approaches this feeling as if it is a visitor. She gives it a shape and a face, and encourages the reader to give it a name, all of which helps demystify it and distinguish it from ourselves. She suggests activities to do with it, like sitting quietly, drawing, and going outside for a walk. The beauty of this approach is in the respect the book has for the feeling, and the absence of a narrative that encourages the reader to "get over" it or indicates that it's "bad," both of which are anxiety-producing notions.


Our Thoughts:

When Sadness Is at Your Door is a calming story with minimal text and color palette that shares a simple and easy to absorb message about sadness and how to understand it. 

This cute mental health book reminds us that sadness can linger behind any door and for any amount of time but also helps to understand it by personifying sadness itself into an entity that is part of one's self; something that can overshadow parts of your life if you let it. 

The positive message is that even though sadness is part of our lives, there are ways to understand and accept this difficult feeling and how to move on from it in positive and constructive ways. You can sit quietly or color or go for a walk in the woods. Whatever you choose to do, know that the sadness won't be there forever.

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