I'M SAD TODAY

In this tale translated from Spanish, a child explores different ways of looking at sadness.

“I’m sad today,” declares Olga, a child who wears green glasses and a striped shirt, with dark hair piled into a topknot. “I’m so sad I can’t even speak.” So Olga draws their sadness in black and then notices the white spaces look like stars and so colors them yellow, which makes them think of holes made by giant hands, and on it goes until the drawing ends up with a laughing giant. Later, when Olga again is sad and feels like crying, they draw a sea, which naturally requires a ship; fantasies of traveling the ocean lead to an afternoon of playing at being a pirate searching for treasure. On another sad occasion, Olga gazes in the mirror to see how sad they look; pulling faces leads to an irrepressible bout of laughter. Even when Olga feels their heart must be full of sorrow, this story manages to turn that concept on its head. Whimsical, clutter-free illustrations keep the focus on Olga and their grandmother, who quietly follows the child’s creative exploits. Yagüe’s text and Sacido’s artwork seamlessly come together to explore the boundless possibilities of a child’s imagination. Both child and grandmother have light-tan skin. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A gentle reminder that even sadness, when served up with a dose of imagination, isn’t so bad after all.