In the blue

Here a girl tells the story of how her usually exuberant father changed into a sad, lethargic, sometimes rage-filled man. As he morphs into someone who sleeps all day and doesn't respond to her attempts to change him back, adult readers will recognize this as a story about depression. The girl, of course, has no clue to the mystery until a therapist explains "all the colors" of our moods to her after her father has gotten help. The illustrations, done in acrylic gouache and pencils, are brilliant in showing these colors: they move from the father and daughter, both suffused with gold at the seaside, to the father infested by blue, while the mother and daughter are still in gold (with the father's blues stretching toward them), and, finally, a bluish-purplish color covering the father like a bruise. The changing colors and comparison of moods to mutable weather are effective ways to help children understand what's happening when loved ones change. Back matter includes resources for families dealing with mental illness. Relatable and hopeful.

A family comes to terms with depression. A dad teaches his daughter how to surf in the ocean. He is "as tall as the sky," and she is "his teeny-tiny sunspot." He usually sings to her in the morning and tucks her in at night. "But right now, things for my dad aren't bright and yellow. They are a deep, dark blue," the girl reveals. Shrouded in cobalt shadow on the verso, the father hangs his head while the girl and (presumably) her mother look on worriedly from the sunny recto. Readers learn that when the father is "in the blue," his "kisses don't reach as far at night, and the morning is quiet and dim." The girl tries in vain to cheer him up. All her family can do is "wait together in the blue" until he is ready to get help. They all see a Black therapist--"someone who knows all the colors, from sunny to midnight"--and Dad is shown buying medicine from a White pharmacist. After some time, Dad grows "bright and yellow again," and the father-daughter surfing adventures resume. The power of Hourigan's metaphorical yet crystal-clear portrayal of depression lies in its simple but impressively evocative use of color symbolism. The acrylic gouache and color pencil illustrations are suffused with primary colors that convey misery, joy, and anger and that sometimes blend, creating secondary colors that signify the many moods, faces, and grades of depression. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Sensitive, honest, and expertly done. (author's note, resources) (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.