By Leslie Staub, Illustrated by R.G. Roth
Harcourt Children’s Books, $16.99, 32 pages
In Everybody Gets the Blues by Leslie Staub, we read the story of a little boy who has the blues. Luckily, the Blues Guy, complete with a trumpet and a smile, comes to brighten the boy’s day by taking him to cheer up other people and animals that are sad. Staub is from New Orleans, and wrote this story after experiencing Hurricane Katrina. She encourages the understanding that sometimes people are sad, and that helping other people may help lessen that feeling. This book tries to normalize sadness and inform kids that they are not alone in their sadness, perhaps even reducing an isolation factor in tears. The pictures by R.G. Roth are beautiful and vivid, and help to further the hope in happiness and brighter days ahead. Young kids will love this gorgeous book that promotes hope even in moments of pain.
Reviewed by Liz Friedman
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