Michael Rosen’s Sad Book

Buy This Book * More books by Michael Rosen

The Sad Book chronicles Michael’s grief at the death of his son Eddie from meningitis at the age of 19. A moving combination of sincerity and simplicity, it acknowledges that sadness is not always avoidable or reasonable and perfects the art of making complicated feelings plain.

Teaching Ideas and Resources:

English

• Could you write your own ‘Sad Book’ that shares things that make you sad and how you deal with this… could you make a book about a different emotion that you feel?
• Can you think of different words / phrases that describe emotions? In the book, the author describes ‘sad’ as ‘big, everywhere, all over me’. He also says that sad is ‘just a cloud that comes along and covers me up’.
• Can you write a story with a sad ending? Could you write an alternative sad ending for a story that usually ends happily? Which do you prefer?

Art

• Look at the illustrations in the story. How has the illustrator shown ‘sad’ things?
• Can you draw a picture to show what ‘sad’ looks like? Can you draw other emotions?
• Look in the mirror and look at your different facial expressions. Can you draw some of these?

Music

• Can you find (or compose) some music that is ‘sad’? Can you explain (using musical language) what makes it sad?

Languages

• Can you find out the translations for different emotions in other languages?

PSHE

• How many different emotions can you think of?
• The first illustration shows a person who is sad but pretending to be happy. How can you tell if someone is really feeling sad?
• How can we try to make others happy if they are feeling sad?
• What things make you feel sad? What things make you happy? What things do you do when you are sad / happy?
• Carry out some role-play activities in which friends use body language and facial expressions to show different emotions. Can you tell what emotion they are trying to portray?
• Every day the author thinks of one thing that he is proud of and one thing that means he has a good time.
• Can you write a diary for a week (or longer) that records similar information about each day?
• The author remembers lots of happy times in the story. Can you tell a friend about some of your own happy memories?
• Use the resources below to discuss facial expressions that show different emotions.

Downloads: