Verroken, S. (2009). Feeling sad, Brooklyn: Enchanted Lion. (TOP TEN)

ISBN: 9781592700837

A search for the sun reminds readers, young and old, that sad feelings can go away and there is always a little light, if you are willing to look for it.

Media: Woodcut and Photoshop

Rating: 5Q/5P

Ages: Grades 5-8

Subjects: Depression, Hope, Friendship

Curricular Connections: Health, Art (visual representation of emotion)

Theme: The theme of Verroken's story is hope. A depressed duck, unable to escape the black cloud over his head, is encouraged to search for the sun. In doing so, he finds hope and color in the world.

Artwork:

    Sarah Verroken’s picture book Feeling Sad is a book about color. Through woodcuts and Photoshop, Verroken tells the story of a duck who is feeling sad. Unable to escape the black cloud over his head, Verroken begins her story using almost entirely black and white illustrations. The introduction of color into the illustrations mirrors the duck’s happiness or ability to find hope in the world.

    Far from subtle, this use of color is discussed in the text itself. The story reads, “Duck is so happy! The flowers are bright and the water sparkles and Duck can see her own wonderfully yellow self” (Verroken, 2009, p. 22). While parallel nature of Verroken’s transition from black and white to color and sad to happy may be overt, her use of color warrants further examination.

    The only use of color on the first eight pages of the text is Duck’s toy, Cuddly. A small, red figure, the black and white duck clings to Cuddly for much of the story. The anomaly of Cuddly’s color in these early pages demands a closer examination. If color comes to represent hope and happiness, later in the story, it is logical to conclude that Verroken is using Cuddly to convey a message to her readers. Although the world may seem completely black and white, devoid of happiness or hope, that is never really the case. There is always a little bit of color somewhere. Although Duck finds an abundance of this color later in the story, it is significant to remember that at no point was Duck completely without color.

    The media Verroken uses is unusual: the combination of woodcuts and Photoshop creates a simple, textured feeling to the book. Once again, the story follows suit: simple and poignant Verroken accomplishes something Edward Ardizzone states, “For the childish part of [the author] the story must be both possible and true, and  of course in its childish framework it must have its own formal logic” (Egoff, et. Al., 1980, p. 293).

References

Feeling sad by Sarah Verroken. New York: Enchanted Lion, 2009.

Only Connect: Readings on Children’s Literature, by Sheila A. Egoff, et. al. 3rd Edition, Oxford University Press, 1996.

km 7/4/09