review of A Blue Emotatude Christmas written and illustrated by Karen White Porter

By creating a way to picture emotions, Karen White Porter helps children understand their feelings. She brings imagination to a concrete level in her Emotatude Series. The seriousness of the topics is softened by having the character of Dr. Kich investigate and explain the feelings to the child who is feeling them in the individual stories.

In A Blue Emotatude Christmas, Eileen experiences sadness at Christmastime. There is no explanation as to the cause, but it is something that happens to a lot of people. Eileen has no interest in the holiday preparations that her classmates are engaged in at school, not in decorating cookies with sprinkles, not in trimming the tree, not in making a Christmas list. She didn’t want to talk to Santa Claus or sing festive songs. She just feels blue.

Enter Dr. Kich. Mom is alarmed and calls on the famous Emotatude Man. With prescription in hand, Eileen starts working on her blues. She drinks hot chocolate and plays cards with her friend, but then closes her door. Mom doesn’t understand until Eileen opens her door and reveals the ways in which she has used The Blues to help her cheer up.

The story progresses in an upward spiral and is enhanced by the fun pictures. You’ll love the image of The Blues. No Foolin’.