Michael Rosen’s 2004 picture book Michael Rosen’s Sad Book is a book about sadness and depression. It’s nonfiction, and the author speaks directly to readers, even appearing on the first page in smiling drawing that appears happy. Rosen talks about how his son Eddie isn’t there anymore, because he has died. He describes what his life is like feeling this way, walking readers through everyday activities.
This is marketed as a children’s book, and would be useful for a child whose parent is suffering depression, or who has had a death in the family. But it is, as the description indicates, a dark and heavy book. It would also work for adults facing similar issues.
Quentin Blake, the great cartoonist and illustrator, illustrates this book with a grim, austere beauty. (Blake illustrated more than a dozen books by Dahl, and so his style may be familiar.)
