It was a Tuesday.

Isabel woke up and something felt wrong.

She didn’t know what it was but inside her heart she felt a soreness. It was a little empty and a little full at the same time and it felt very tender like if someone bumped it, it would hurt very much.

She asked her older sister Grace what was going on. Grace was nine years old and she knew a lot of things. She told Isabel that she had The Sad.

Isabel said The Sad could come to you for lots of reasons. Sometimes it made your heart feel empty and sometimes it made your heart feel full but it always made it very tender and sore.

When you had The Sad, you were a little more fragile than at regular times without it. You might need people to be more gentle with you or just to give you extra space.

Sometimes you would need a hug and sometimes you would want to talk about it. But sometimes you would just want to be quiet.

You might want to listen to music or watch a movie or read a favorite book.

You might want someone to make you tea or give you a blanket to wrap up in.

You might want to run or paint or draw or write or go somewhere you can feel the sun warming you up.

Sometimes The Sad would go away quickly and sometimes it would stay for awhile.

Sometimes you knew exactly where it came from and sometimes you weren’t really sure.

But it was important to know that it was okay to be sad sometimes. It happened to everyone.

If you needed help getting The Sad to go away, you could always ask your friends and your family just like Isabel had asked Grace.

Isabel felt better already. She asked Grace if they could walk to school together and if Grace would sing a song with her while they walked.

As they set off, Grace put her arm around Isabel’s shoulders and started to sing Isabel’s favorite song about the place over the rainbow. Isabel joined her and while she could still feel The Sad resting in her heart, she thought she could feel it smile and get a bit lighter when they got to the part about lemondrops.

These books are not yet published. Interested in publishing or illustrating? Email amy@soulbeaststudios.com!

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