Happy Pants: Why is Mummy so sad? By Heather Gallagher and Liz McGrath, Wombat Books, 2014. ‘When Mummy wears her happy pants we build sandcastles, go out for babycinos and have lots and lots of cuddles But when she comes home with baby Darcy, her happy pants stay in her wardrobe…’ A heartfelt story about one child’s experience of his mother who is suffering from postnatal depression. This is a highly relatable story for children who have recently experienced the introduction of a new baby to the home, and especially if their mother is suffering from depression. Happy Pants broaches the often taboo topic of postnatal depression with kindness, and it has a positive ending that will offer hope to your child if he or she is in the same situation. Colourful watercolour images adorn the book, and although the style is quite naive, I think they would appeal to children because of the soft vibrancy of the pages. Happy Pants is a great book for fathers to read to their children, but also mothers. There is an informative page at the end of the book explaining what post-natal depression is and how common it is in new mothers and…

The Red Tree By Shaun Tan, Hachette Australia, 2001. ‘sometimes the day begins with nothing to look forward to’ The Red Tree is a beautifully illustrated story about depression. The story opens with a little girl sitting up in bed. She is sad and brown leaves fall in her room, and then so many dead leaves fill her room so that you can’t see her bed anymore. There is one bright red leaf in each picture though. A leaf of hope. She just can’t see the red, living leaf, but this leaf offers a good look-and-find element to the book. She is overwhelmed by her feelings of sadness and depression. She walks the streets with her head hung low and the weight of the world on her shoulders. The world appears to reflect her sadness and hopelessness. She is engulfed in turmoil, and she watches all the wonderful things passing her by. She feels so lost until suddenly she sees the red leaf, that glimmer of hope, and it grows and grows and grows. Download the Teacher Resource.