It comes along and finds you

Yesterday, because Michael Rosen was giving a talk, the booksellers put out a number of his books, as well as the one on Zola that he was talking about. I picked up the one I mentioned  - his version of Aesop’s Fables. But I also found Michael Rosen’s Sad Book. I bought it immediately and read it right through. I could not believe that it was first published in 2004 and I had not come across it before. If you do not know it, then read on – this book is a must have.

The book is a collaboration between Michael Rosen (words) and Quentin Blake (pictures) and is a truly wonderful book - about being sad. At its heart is Michael’s own sadness after the death of his son and the book explores how he deals, or does not deal, with this sadness. 

In some wonderful words . . .
 
Sad is a place
That is deep and dark
Like the space
Under the bed.
 
. . . he looks at sadness from all aspects.  It’s a personal story that speaks to everyone who has ever felt sad. The illustrations are wonderful, embracing and enhancing the text.
 
Sometimes sad is very big.
It’s everywhere. All over me.
 
Sometimes I’m sad and I don’t know why.  
It’s just a cloud that comes along and covers me up.