Everything Changes

It’s summertime, the sun is shining, and a young child plays happily with her Mummy and Daddy on the seashore. But then, everything changes. The cold waves rush in, and Mummy and Daddy say that they will no longer be living together.

Narrated from the child’s point of view, the passing of each season brings difficult emotions to contend with but also a message of hope. In Autumn, Daddy is in a new house and the gusty wind and spiralling leaves mirror the child’s feelings of worry and guilt. In Winter, it is sled time with mummy – together Mummy and child have fun in the snow but soon they hit a bump. Yet, for every difficult feeling and obstacle along the way, gentle reassurance follows.

Parental separation is never easy, but this gentle picture book handles the subject with tenderness and sensitivity. The lyrical text and gorgeous colour palette that changes with the passing seasons capture the very subtle changes in emotion that both child and parent can feel over time. It’s an ideal book for offering gentle guidance to children who are experiencing big changes in their family and processing the feelings that come with it. However, it’s ultimately a book full of warmth and joyful moments – time is an important healer and as well as the bad moments, change can bring lots of good things too.