Children’s book offers message of hope, unconditional support in depiction of depression

Winnipeg-based Anna Lazowski’s latest book for children, Dark Cloud, is a springboard for conversations about mental health and illness, particularly depression.

“We don’t talk about mental health enough, and I think the pandemic has forced us to acknowledge that,” says Lazowski. “The more we talk about these feelings, and normalize that it’s okay to not be okay, the better it will be for everyone.”

With whimsical illustrations and lyrical text, this book is already sparking conversations. Lazowski has seen early reviews from people saying that the book helped them discuss their own diagnosis with their child. She says, “These are big, abstract topics, and we need more ways to make them accessible to kids and families.”

Mental health is a topic that hits close to home for the author. With her daughter’s permission, Lazowski shares what happened after her daughter began a new allergy medication: “She withdrew, she developed strange responses to innocuous things, and she stopped smiling. My always happy, lively kid disappeared. We made the connection, took her off the medication, and got help, but it took almost a year for her to fully recover.”

This experience inspired Dark Cloud, and the character Abigail, a little girl with a dark cloud that follows her and takes different forms as she tries to attend ballet class, celebrate her birthday, and enjoy a day at the beach.

Lazowski enlisted the help of a critique partner who is a clinical psychologist to ensure that she treated this topic with sensitivity, and she was careful with her portrayal of depression.

“I used a lot of symbolic imagery so the emotions would have a visual presence,” she says. “When I was writing, I thought about what the symptoms of depression look like and wrote the text to match those images.”

The illustrations are equally thoughtful. Artist Penny Neville-Lee, who lives in Manchester, U.K., uses a tangled ball of worries, a swirling fog, and a long shadow to bring Abigail’s emotional experience to life. However, she also made sure to include other elements for young readers to enjoy.

“I am a big fan of details in picture books,” she says. “The majority of children enjoying this book will be being read to, rather than reading it themselves, so I made sure there was plenty to look at. My favourite page from the book is one where Abigail visits her local library. I had a lot of fun designing all of the posters on the noticeboard and hiding spiders under the floorboards.”

Neville-Lee chose muted, colourless tones to illuminate Abigail’s struggle, with moments of colour increasing as those around Abigail reach out to support her. “We see Abigail learn to understand and live with her cloud, and still find moments of happiness,” explains Lazowksi.

The quiet message of hope and unconditional support is what sets this book apart, giving children and their families a way to help their loved ones without adding to their struggle.

Ultimately, both Lazowski and Neville-Lee hope the book will strike a chord with those who need it. In her author’s note, Lazowski writes that she hopes this book “helps anyone with their own dark cloud understand that they’re not alone.”