Splash by Maria Van Lieshout - review

Splash! by Maria Van Lieshout
Is it the antidepressant Cymbalta that has those animated commercials with a depressed blob desultorily bobbing along, dribbling out a few tears, its flabby jiggle evoking the post-baby belly you'll never be able to lose? Oh no, excuse me, that's Zoloft. And, er, my problem.

Well, Splash! A little book about bouncing back is an awful lot like a Zoloft ad in book form. Splash is a little blue seal who is so depressed that the sight of him actually causes the SUN to lose interest in rising. Wracked by guilt, he tries to heave the Sun back into the sky with his head, bouncing it higher and higher until he realizes that he's having fun.

So: if you are bummed out, find someone else who is bummed out and hit them with your head until you crack yourself up. Hm. Is it wrong that that seems kind of reasonable to me? Got to be at least as effective as taking antidepressants until your sex drive dries up and your colon turns to rock.

But do I recommend it for little kids? Yeah. Huh. Splash! to me looks like the kind of book that therapists might keep in the waiting room - it's cute in a kind of rueful way. For actual kids, I'd recommend Taking a Bath with the Dog and Other Things that Make Me Happy over this one, because that book offers multiple practical options for cheering yourself up.