May 2018, Laurence King, 32 pages, Hardback, Review copy
Summary from Laurence King
Bob the bird loves to paint pictures with his best friend Bat. But one
day Bat goes away and Bob is sad. He tries to paint, but everything he
paints is blue! Can his friends help him to find his bright colours
again?
Nayu's thoughts
I almost did say no to reviewing this book because Bob looks a bit creepy on the cover and the sample illustrations I saw. However mental health is such an important topic that I decided to be brave and read it. I'm glad I did because it most definitely shows what happens during depression in a way that I believe readers of all ages will understand. Bob gets so sad by his friend going away that he can't do any of his usual activities quite how he used to. I know he is still painting, but there's no colour to his artwork, his life isn't vibrant. Naturally his friends are worried and keep hoping he will use a non-blue colour, but it doesn't for an extremely long while.
I can find black things scary (I've many nightmares to thank for that), and Bob isn't a typically cute bird, he looks quite bizarre when standing in certain positions that I don't like. However that is the only reason why this doesn't get a perfect grade, something that is highly subjective and I'm sure the majority of readers won't care what he looks like. Now if only Bob had a friend who was a girl (not a girl friend, just a friend), I'd love to see a similar book in pink or purple, (Muted colours during the sadder parts) as well as one feature Bat as the protagonist because I genuinely think bats are adorable! The book itself has a really nice feel to the cover, it's not an ordinary shiny picture book, but textured in a nice way that heightens the quality of it.
Find out more on Marion's website.
Suggested read
Other books that look at mental health issues include Meh by Deborah Malcolm (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E) which has an app too!
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