The Gray Day

Preface

This book is a product of my experiences in working in the public school system for 10 years with children who sometimes struggled to express their emotions in a socially acceptable manner. Some of these children were confused by their emotions, some were frightened by them and some were uncertain how to talk to a trusted adult about what may have been causing the feelings. I am also the father of a child who has struggled with anxiety and depression, and she, also, would have trouble understanding that the feelings that she had didn’t make her “crazy” but were normal parts of her and she should be free to express them. I wanted to write a story that would enable these children, some of whom also had issues with paying attention for extended periods of time or language processing issues, to see through images that people sometimes felt the same way that they do, this is normal, and this is what they can do when that happens.

In reading this story, it is my hope that children can identify with the characters and say "I know how that feels, I have felt like that before". I hope that they enjoy the pictures and can see personal meaning in them outside of the story. I hope this helps them see that feeling is normal and it is okay to be who they are.