My Happy Sad Mummy is a picture book for preschoolers and primary aged readers. It is a story that portrays the emotional response of a young girl living with a mother who has bipolar (manic and depressive episodes).

Despite the fact that one in five Australian children have a parent with a diagnosed mental health condition, there are very few quality children’s books about mental health challenges.

Parents often struggle to find the right words when talking to their children about their mental ill health. Some even shy away from the topic altogether.

My Happy Sad Mummy was written for the parents who might need some kind of frame work to help explain their mental health challenges to their children. Simply put, it is a tool they can use to begin an on-going dialogue about why they sometimes behave in strange or distressing ways.

It was also written as a resource for childcare workers, kindergarten teachers, librarians, psychologists, counselors … indeed anyone working with young children who may benefit from such a book.

My Happy Sad Mummy deals with mental ill health in a sensitive and age appropriate manner. It is Michelle’s hope it will help demystify mental health challenges and make the discussion of such with young children a less daunting task for all those involved.