The power of books...

I just received an email from a Canadian library that their copy of Feeling Sad has been confiscated by the police. It was used by a teacher to talk about feelings with her class of five year olds: "During the class discussion of the book one student shared that she feels sad when she is abused at home which of course launched a police investigation and our book has now been taken into police evidence. [...] Talk about the right book being in the right hands at the right time!"

Ik kreeg zonet de melding van een Canadese bibliotheek dat mijn boekje 'Boos' door de politie in beslag genomen is. Het was gebruikt in een les over gevoelens met enkele vijfjarigen, waarop een van de kinderen vertelde dat zij zich verdrietig voelt als ze door haar ouders misbruikt wordt. Boos is nu een bewijsstuk in het daaropvolgende politieonderzoek... De kracht van boeken, je zou het soms vergeten...

Feeling sad review!

Here is a review of FEELING SAD from Kirkus (May 15), an important American review journal:

"A deceptively simple Dutch import (with the deliciously evocative original title of Boos) shows young readers a way to turn their moods around. Duck, despite the presence of her beloved toy Cuddly, “is not having a good time. Everything around her seems so gloomy.” She makes her way through a black-and-white landscape as clouds lower and rain begins to fall. “Could the clouds be sad too? Duck feels worse than ever.” But a cheerful frog encourages her to “Look ahead!” and Duck sees “a tiny bit of color.” Emboldened, she gathers the clouds together to help her find the sun. As Duck begins to take control of her day, Verroken begins to digitally add color to her bold woodblocks until, when the sun finds Duck, the landscape is saturated with it. The illustrator’s control of line and color easily communicates Duck’s emotional journey, her self-translated text complementing it with ingenuous charm. It’s an offbeat little tale, but children should feel empowered by its take-charge message. Who can’t respond to a duck that tells clouds what to do? (Picture book. 2-6)"