Another January day
Another forecast of rain

The beginning of 2023
Really has been blue
The rain feels endless
To be honest
Extreme weather
And anxiety about driving
Have been plaguing me
For a few months now
And I am today
On Blue Monday
Feeling blue

Anxiety and sadness
In my experience
Also bring loneliness
When even those closest to you
Do not know how to help
When I am feeling low
And blue
I turn to books
I seek comfort in chapters
Solace from stories
Company with characters
Books help me
And I know that they
Help little readers too

Blue
By Sarah Christou
Is the perfect story
To share on a
Wet and blustery January day

Blue gives fear and anxiety
A face
And a furry body

It shows through words and pictures
Through familiar daily scenarios
What worry can feel like
What nerves can feel like
How shyness feels

Blue shows little readers
That they are not alone
When they worry about things
We all worry
We all get scared
Sometimes we try to ignore our worries
In the hope that they will go away
But often times they stay

Blue shows little readers
That to overcome their fears
To ease their worries
To face their anxiety
They need to share it
To talk about it
To tell a friend
A parent
A carer
A teacher

Blue beautifully
Brilliantly
Simply
Gently
Powerfully
Shows little readers
That they do not have to feel
Sad things on their own

It is okay to talk about our feelings
Our worries, our fears
Our sadness
It is more than okay
It helps us
And it helps us to help each other

So today is a famous blue day
January might be a month of blue
But what Sarah Christou
Reminds us all
Is that blue is just a colour
In the rainbow of being human

In a kaleidoscope of emotions
Blue is one fragment
One feeling
And though we all feel blue
From time to time
We all feel all the other
Colours of the rainbow too

And that is okay
It is good to talk about our feelings

A brilliant and beautiful book
A powerful tool for talking
To readers of all ages
From littlest to oldest
About their feelings
A story that encourages us all
To open up about how we feel

How are you feeling today?