Should picture books talk about depression?

This is a very personal topic - my mother suffered from extreme anxiety and at times also depression. I am acutely aware of the impact this can have and so I am extra sensitive to books on this topic especially books for very young children (note The Red Tree is a Young Adult title) and also books that to my eye give simple, simplistic or unrealistic 'solutions' to anxiety, sadness or depression.

IBBY Australia are holding a Mini Masterpiece postcard sized art auction from 18th November, 2023. One of the pieces available at our auction is from The Brown Dog by Gina Inverarity illustrated by Greg Holfeld. This book from 2017 is a new discovery by me. Greg has sent us an original image from this book for the auction. I really like the image which is a kookaburra, but I found story of The Brown Dog quite disturbing. 

The ideas in The Brown Dog are very similar to Mr Huff (Winner of the Children's Book Council of Australia Book of the Year: Early Childhood, 2016).

In The Brown Dog, the actual feelings or emotions of the young child are never directly stated. After many days of feeling alone and unable to participate in his usual routine Grandpa arrives. The boy joins his grandfather and having his company and enjoying things together such as a bush walk, star gazing, and a game of chess mean this young-looking boy is now somehow now able to tell the black dog to leave. Here is a review of The Brown Dog. 

As a 2021-23 CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) picture book judge we were sent this book -  A Blue Kind of Day. Again, this story really troubled me. The solution to the depression experienced by this child seemed way too simple. But the reviewer of the School Library Journal (I am quite amazed this book reached the US market) completely disagrees with me. 

Other reviewers said:

Short sentences beautifully convey how Coen is feeling and simple emotion-filled illustrations capture the feelings of the family members. Empathy, compassion and understanding shine throughout this thoughtful story making this an important book to share together. A Word about Books

The art in this book beautiful.  The illustrations help the reader feel his emotions as he moves through them. Storytime Solidarity

A loving tribute to the power of loved ones’ support during trying times. Kirkus star review

About the illustrator: Tori-Jay Mordey is an Indigenous Australian illustrator whose work traverses multiple mediums, such as digital illustration, drawing, painting, printmaking, film and murals. Her Torres Strait Islander and English heritage is often reflected in her contemporary Indigenous art practice- producing work based around her family and siblings as a way of understanding herself, her appearance and racial identity. She is based in Brisbane, Australia.

But here are somethings I noticed about this book: the author and illustrator biographic notes were oddly positioned. The convention is to usually place information like this at the back of the book. Coen has such an odd face which at times looks quite adult and his sister's face also conveys emotions that are hard to understand. The extensive notes at the back of this book by the psychologist author just make feel too didactic for my taste.

Here are two other books on this topic that I am keen to read:

Now you might like to read Shaun Tan's commentary on his book The Red Tree.

I'd also been increasingly aware that illustration is a powerful way of expressing feeling precisely because it lies outside of verbal language, as many emotions can be hard to articulate in words. I thought it would therefore be interesting to produce an illustrated book that is all about feelings, unframed any storyline context, in some sense going ‘directly to the source’. 

Back to my question - should children's books talk about depression?  I don't have a definitive answer but I do think this is a topic to handle with care. Parents, teachers and other gate keepers perhaps need to make individual decisions about the suitability of each of these books in the context of their own child. Again, speaking personally, when Mr Huff was shortlisted I did read it to some groups in my library - but not the youngest children in Kindergarten or Grade One. Perhaps I was wrong. I would love to read your comments.