Tuesday 15 October 2013

Whimsy's Heavy Things by Julie Kraulis (Children's, Picture book, 5 years +, 10/10E)



 September 2013, Tundra Books, 32 pages, Hardback, Review copy

Themes: dealing with hardship, burying your head in the sand (figuratively), hiding your problems, having your problems pop up unexpectedly, turning problems on their head, the effects of feeling happier,

Content: coping with life

Summary from Tundra Books
Whimsy's heavy things are weighing her down. She tries to sweep them under the rug, but she trips over them. She tries to put them in a tree, but they fall on her. She even tries to sail them out to sea, but they always come back. Eventually Whimsy decides to deal with the heavy things one at a time... and a surprising thing happens.

Nayuleska's thoughts 
I was approached to review this book and I'm so glad that happened. It is an incredibly poignant read. I love how the illustrations are kept relatively free of detail, apart from where Whimsy and her heavy things are, as it draws the focus of the reader towards them. I wanted to weep for Whimsy because I knew what she was doing wasn't the best way to deal with her issues.

I loved how she managed to turn the situation around. The way she does that is reflected in the book cover, which if you take it off there's an uplifting illustration on the innermost side which is a poster for the reader. Everyone should have a copy of Whimsy's tale so they can remember that seemingly large issues can in fact become tiny ones when viewed differently.

Find out more on Julie's website.

Suggested read
Another book that deals with tricky life situations (& you will need a box of tissues) is Missing Mummy by Rebecca Cobb (Children's, Picture book, 10E/10E)

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