Sad Days, Glad Days

Author/Authors: DeWitt Hamilton

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: MENTAL ILLNESS

Year of Publication: 1995

Publisher & Location: Albert Whitman & Company, Morton Grove, IL

ISBN #: 0-8075-72004-4

Target Age Level: Lower elementary, Upper elementary

# of Pages: 29

Quality of Illustrations: Good illustrations that depict the feeling of depression

Brief Summary:
Amanda is the only child of a family. The mom suffers from depression. This story is about her learning to cope and understand her mom’s depression and how some days are glad days and some days are sad days. She learns that it is not her fault and that her mom does still love her. In the end of the story Amanda’s mom lets her keep a cat that she has been taking care of when he brings her a mouse. Amanda’s dad comes up with a game to describe her mom’s mood by color. This seems to help Amanda better understand the depression.

Post reading activity:
If working with a child who is trying to understand his or her parent’s depression, have them come up with a description of different days based on colors. Have the child describe how the parent acts on those days. Have the child list what kinds of things he or she could do on the different days. For black or blue days have the child think of some things he or she could do to keep from getting sad as well. For example, maybe that would be a good day to go to a friend’s house to play.