Age 6+

Rosen’s 19-year-old son Eddie died of meningitis and this exceptional picturebook makes something valuable from that fact. Blake’s drawings and Rosen’s text (entirely interdependent) express aspects of how Rosen’s experience of his grief manifested itself and, by extension, how grief affects us all. It is about Eddie and his father, but it is also a book that accepts sadness and is, therefore, likely to be enlightening for children whose sorrows are lesser, as well as those who have experienced serious loss. It shows how powerful feelings might be talked about. It also describes survival strategies — doing one thing every day that you can be proud of, for instance, and thinking hard about it at bedtime.

Quentin Blake’s pictures are a huge achievement: they combine perfectly recognisable portraits of Rosen with expressionism, proving that Blake’s spontaneous style is born out of practice and precision. Both the words and the images articulate strong emotion with admirable economy and convey a sense of the preciousness of life without being sentimental, platitudinous or falsely hopeful. At moments, the story is even funny. This is certainly a book that makes you sad, but its honesty is surprisingly uplifting.

MICHAEL ROSEN’S SAD BOOK by Michael Rosen, illustrations by Quentin Blake

(Walker £10.99)

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