Why Do We Cry?
by Fran Pintadera (Author) Ana Sender (Illustrator)
This sensitive, poetic picture book uses metaphors and beautiful imagery to explain the reasons for our tears, making it clear that everyone is allowed to cry, and that everyone does.
In a soft voice, Mario asks, "Mother, why do we cry?" His mother thinks for a moment, and then begins to tell him about the many reasons for our tears. We cry because our sadness is so huge it must escape from our bodies. Because we don't understand the world, and our tears go in search of an answer. Because we can't find the right words, and our tears speak a universal language. Most important, she tells him, we cry because we feel like crying. And, as she shows him then, sometimes we feel like crying for joy.
By exploring the causes of our tears, Fran Pintadera's thoughtful, poetic picture book story defends the right to cry and reinforces crying's importance as a way to release our pain, to calm us and to help us grow. Though the question is asked by the boy, the illustrations of his mother's answers feature her as a child, adding a layer of empathy to her message. Ana Sender's artwork uses color and symbolic images along with facial expressions and body language to beautifully capture the mood and emotion being described on each spread. This warm, reassuring hug of a book provides just the response every adult would want to have to the central question. Supporting social-emotional learning, it makes an excellent choice for discussions about feelings and crying. To extend the concepts in the story, back matter describes the physical aspects and benefits of tears and provides two activities.
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School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2--A boy dangling upside down on a park bench tentatively asks his mother the titular question in this Spanish import. Starting with the most obvious reason, the ensuing pages depict 13 different answers in loving, accessible language: "Sometimes we cry because the sadness we feel is so great that we just can't contain it." Sender has chosen to place the mother (depicted as a young, light-skinned woman with one dark braid) in the protagonist's role, rather than her son Mario--perhaps to create some emotional distance for the viewer. It is the mother who is shown in silhouette, blackbirds being released from her hair in the opening. Other questions and explanations involve anger, lack of comprehension, facing an insurmountable wall, and the inability to "find the right words." The palette shifts with the mood; a bicycle light sends a red, tear-shaped beam into a dark forest, while a green river supports the young woman in a pre-Raphaelite pose as she experiences pain, but considers that "Tears are the best medicine." Ultimately, Mario's mother notes that "...we cry because we feel like crying. That's the most important reason." When the boy asks, in the final scene as they dance in puddles, why his mother is crying, she explains that tears can flow from happiness as well. The final spread provides well-chosen facts about tears, including what they are made of, why they are productive, and how they look under a microscope. VERDICT A sensitive, creative exploration of a universal phenomenon.--Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library
Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV039030 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Death & Dying
