I adore this short picture book! The artwork, characters, and story is charming. The relationship between the two sisters is absolutely adorable. You can tell they care for one another and want to be there for each other when life gets hard. I love how this book encouraged kids to dive into their imagination if ever they feel depressed because they may find the happiness they are seeking. As someone who constantly daydreams of one day going to a place not of this realm, I related to Virginia so much. I, too, dream of my own perfect world. And if we continue to search for it, through art or writing or any other creative outlets, we may one day find our Home.

 

This book is absolutely beautiful. I encourage you to pick it up! It's short but has a lovely message and beautiful artwork to go with it! Anyone can pick up this picture book and find enjoyment in it. May also encourage you look explore your imagination again in case you've been focusing too much on Reality. It's a great book!

As always with children's books, I make the disclaimer that I have no idea if the book is any use with children.

However, I thought the story of Virginia as told by her sister was charming and found a compassionate way of telling children about moods and people who may be affected by them.

 

The characters are obviously based on Virginia Woolf and her sister Vanessa Bell, which made me wonder whether the book tries to introduce the topic of depression but I think that was just my own association with the characters. The story itself stays at a more general level.

 

There is a nice twist to the illustrations at the end.

I like myself a nice picture book every once and a while, and this one was really cute. 

I don't really know that much about Virginia Woolf herself, but I know enough to know that little girl this book is about is based off her, loosely.

 

Virginia is in a "wolfish" mood. This means she howl, growls, snaps at people, and sleeps in bed a lot, hiding away. She is depicted by a mere black shadow of a wolf throughout the book, in contrast with her surroundings. Vanessa, her sister, is cheery. She dresses in yellow and she loves to paint. All she wants to do is cheer up her sister, but nothing ever seems to work. 

Vanessa does't give up easily, she is very persistent. When her brooding sister lets slip her dream of a magical world in which she thinks she could be happy, she decides to make her dreams reality. With paint and a brush, she starts painting on the walls, and takes them both to Bloomsberry in hopes to bring her happy sister back again.

 

The colors in this were beautiful and soft, and everything when Virginia is sad is in black and white and grey. It was fun to read, put a smile on my face. I love that art was something that brought back the joy and cheer and hope in the story, the loving sisters, and the depiction of a really, really bad day with just shapes and colors.

I may also be over stepping the line of what kind of a bad day this books shows, but the fact that Virginia Woolf was who the story is based on, it also says something for depression and what it looks like. Though described lightly and more relatably here (this is a kid's book after all), I thought this was quite perfect, though less magically and quickly cured in real life. Still puts a smile on my face.

To read when you feel gloomy.

Vanessa's sister Virginia acts like a wolf. I have no idea if kids would like this, but as someone who admires/sorrows for Woolf, I think the extended metaphor really works. Poor woman.

Ahwoooo!

Library copy.

I absolutely adored Kyo Maclear's Virgina Wolf. Illustrated by the extremely talented Isabelle Arsenault, this is the story of sisters Virginia and Vanessa as battle Virginia's sadness and anger with imagination and colorful art.I love that this book has the potential to inspire and guide not only the grumpiest, most wolfish child, but also adults who've also fallen prey to their wolfish tendencies. No matter your age, Vanessa's determination and the beautiful illustrations within Virginia Wolf's pages has the power to inspire and slowly tame the wolf within.Key Words and Ideas: EmpathyLearning to deal with and handle emotionUsing art as an emotional outletImaginationCompassionSisters