For March’s picture book club we made a return to Broad Street Books, Waterstones Reading and we were delighted to welcome Eva Eland all the way from Cambridge.
Author-illustrator Eva Eland’s debut picture book When Sadness Comes To Call is out now with Andersen Press. The hardback edition is gorgeous with a matt embossed cover (my favourite kind!) and although it is a book about Sadness (who is green, not blue BTW) it is an uplifting, hopeful and charming read. Many of the members who came along last night commented that they thought adults could definitely gain just as much as children from reading this book.
The text is sparse and the images complement it perfectly. There is plenty of space for the reader to bring their own experience to the story which is a great starting point for discussing emotion with children. Eva explained that she wanted the narrative to be open and not tied to her own or a single experience of sadness so that it would be relevant to everyone. We definitely think she has succeeded! It was interesting to hear how she had worked with her editor at Andersen to pare down the text but bring out detail in the images.
