Rate this book

Splash!: A Little Book About Bouncing Back (2008)

by Maria van Lieshout(Favorite Author)

3.31 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

031236914X (ISBN13: 9780312369149)

languge

English

genre

Middle Grade & Children's

publisher

Feiwel & Friends

review 1: This picture book is apparently about recovering from depression. According to this text, if you bounce the sun on your nose enough times you'll feel better. The behavior of the depressed seal (cleverly painted BLUE) certainly outlines the symptoms of depression more than just sadness, but there is no discussion of why people (seals) can be depressed. Instead, the reader is shown that if you WANT to feel better and bounce the sun on your face, it will just happen. Pass. This is a treacly bit of misinformation aimed at the preschool crowd.
review 2: Is it the antidepressant Cymbalta that has those animated commercials with a depressed blob desultorily bobbing along, dribbling out a few tears, its flabby jiggle evoking the post-baby belly you'll never be abl... moree to lose? Oh no, excuse me, that's Zoloft. And, er, my problem.Well, Splash! A little book about bouncing back is an awful lot like a Zoloft ad in book form. Splash is a little blue seal who is so depressed that the sight of him actually causes the SUN to lose interest in rising. Wracked by guilt, he tries to heave the Sun back into the sky with his head, bouncing it higher and higher until he realizes that he's having fun.So: if you are bummed out, find someone else who is bummed out and hit them with your head until you crack yourself up. Hm. Is it wrong that that seems kind of reasonable to me? Got to be at least as effective as taking antidepressants until your sex drive dries up and your colon turns to rock. (Don't let me say bad things about antidepressants - I have plenty of friends who have a better life through chemistry and I could not be happier about it.)But do I recommend it for little kids? Yeah. Huh. Splash! to me looks like the kind of book that therapists might keep in the waiting room - it's cute in a kind of rueful way. For actual kids, I'd recommend Taking a Bath with the Dog and Other Things that Make Me Happy over this one, because that book offers multiple practical options for cheering yourself up. less

Download links for: Splash!: A Little Book About Bouncing Back

Advertising