Why Do We Cry?

by Fran Pintadera, Ana Sender (Illustrations)

By exploring the causes of our tears, Fran Pintadera's thoughtful, poetic picture book story defends the right to cry and reinforces crying's importance as a way to release our pain, to calm us and to help us grow. Ana Sender's artwork uses color and symbolic images along with facial expressions and body language to beautifully capture the mood and emotion being described on each spread.

Genres: Picture Books, Emotion, Childrens, Poetry, Family, Fiction, Psychology

34 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Fran Pintadera es narrador oral, director de teatro social y escritor de literatura infantil.

Licenciado en Psicopedagogía, Diplomado en Educación Social por la UCLM y Técnico Superior en Integración Social. Desde hace años su oficio es contar historias y ayudar a que otros puedan contar la suya.

El humor, las posibilidades de la fantasía y la belleza de lo cotidiano son los ingredientes fundamentales de sus recetas artísticas.

Como narrador ha participado en festivales destacados de ámbito nacional, en diversas Ferias del Libro de España, y en bibliotecas y programaciones culturales estables de casi toda la península.

Como escritor ha publicado con diferentes editoriales como Edelvives, SM, Kalandraka, Takatuka, Milrazones, Akiara Books, Libre Albedrío, Tres Tigres Tristes o La Guarida. Sus libros han sido seleccionados entre los mejores títulos publicados en lengua española por la Fundación Cuatrogatos y han recibido el reconocimiento de la Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez.

Reviews

[Toni · Rating 5 out of 5]

So beautiful and poetic!
A little boy asks his mother why we cry and she gently explains all the different emotions expressed by tears: sadness, anger, loneliness, frustration, confusion, and happiness. The pictures are wonderfully expressive. They feature the mother as a young girl experiencing all the feelings she is talking about, and this makes her explanation so powerful. The message of tears being a universal language and helping us in a variety ways (to relieve pain or stress, to express our joy, to empathise with another person to name bu a few) and not knowing gender, race, or age boundaries is a very positive one. This book is a marvelous resource for parents and teachers who are trying to help children develop their emotional intelligence and deepen their understanding of the world.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for the ARC provided in exchange for an honest opinion.

[La Coccinelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book, all about crying, is done quite well. When Mario asks his mother why people cry, she explains many of the most popular reasons: everything from sadness and anger to frustration and joy. Her explanations are accompanied by whimsical illustrations of her as a child as she contemplates the various reasons for crying.

I'm not quite sure what the fantasy creatures in the illustrations have to do with anything, but they're interesting to look at. My favourite part of this is simply the explanations about why we cry, as well as the factual information about tears and their physical production that's included at the back.

Overall, this is a strong picture book that gently explains a universal activity that we've all done at some point in our lives.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kids Can Press for providing a digital ARC.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

A child asks his mother why people cry, and it's a question with many possible answers. This book manages to illustrate all the different feelings one may be having when they're crying-- the mood, the emotion, the metaphor... and does a brilliant job at demonstrating it. It's beautiful, and it's also a great choice to display empathy and learn about other people's feelings. Thoughts and emotions are often a hard thing to interpret, and this story does a great job trying to make sense of it.

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

Such a delightful read explaining about emotions and how they can make us cry a different variety of tears and how they can make us feel.
This book is a fantastic book for children to help them understand their emotions and not be ashamed of how they feel or how they release them.

[Etienne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic! Great book about why we cry and of course about emotions. A variety of emotions that affect us, that's okay to feel and how to recognize those various feelings we get. And all of that is marvelously illustrated to perfectly represent and accompany the text. Bravo!

[N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Tears are the best medicine.”

[Lili · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Why do we cry?” by Fran Pintadera was such a delightful read. This children’s book is perfect for the little ones to get a better understanding of crying and teardrops. I am an educator and I love finding books that I can read to the students.

This book has beautiful written prose and educational content. I think it can help kids understand what crying can mean. There’s multiple meanings as to why someone may cry and the author and illustrator created a story that is fun to follow. At the end of the story, we get educational content that explains things, like what is a teardrop and what they are made of. It also provides possible activities that can help with the kid’s reading comprehension.

Apart from the well written story, there’s also the beautiful illustrations. Both the writing and illustrations work so well together. I can’t imagine one without the other. I highly recommend it to educators and parents!

I received this book through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Rachel Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a beautiful children's book that teaches there are a myriad of reasons why we cry and normalizes the act of crying. I liked how it also talked about the physiology of tears and that there are certain tears that serve a biological function.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on publication day: April 7, 2020.
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Mario asks his mother, “Why do we cry?” and she goes on to tell him all the different reasons that we do cry. Some of the reasons are a bit metaphorical, and might be harder for younger children to understand, but the illustrations help in those cases. (The book is aimed for 3-7 year olds, but I think the story is more fitting for ages 5 and up). The illustrations correspond well with the words on the page.

The story lets children know that it is ultimately ok to cry. I feel that the book showcasing a boy asking about crying is wonderful as some boys are told NOT to cry.

A few added pluses:

There is also a lesson that scientifically explains about tears so children can understand some of the varying reasons that tears exist. There is also a small interactive section with activities dealing with tears that will help children express their imagination.

Many thanks to Kids Can Press for granting me an e-arc to read and review. A+ on this children’s picture book!

[Carla · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 Stars: Times have changed, but for years, boys were told not to cry. In this story, Mario asks his mother why we cry. His mother has to think about it for a few moments and then she shares ideas with her young son. The text is beautiful in this book. The reasons for crying are not just simple answers they are metaphorical and poetic. The illustrations are not direct to the text, but hint at what is meant. I read this to my 6 year old grandson and we had quite a discussion about each page and each reason for crying. He is a very emotional child, so this was a great book to read to let him know that it is okay to cry. Kids can still be mean about crying and tease others calling them cry babies, but not nearly as often as in the past. I loved this beautiful book and think it needs to be in every family and school library to help children understand that crying is normal. The end pages includes some scientific facts about tears with some activities as well. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

[Srujan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a poetic look at tears! This delightful book offers a thoughtful & sensitive answer to a child's question: "Why do we cry?" Rather than a single explanation, the book presents a series of poetic and insightful reasons that validate a wide range of emotions.

📌 Big thanks to Fran Pintadera, Kids Can Press and Edelweiss, for the access to a delightful DRC of this book! As always, my opinions here are 100% honest and completely my own.

The mother's words are a gentle guide, explaining how tears can be an overflow of deep sadness in our hearts, an outlet for intense frustration, or a wordless plea for comfort, say a hug or an embrace. The book creatively reframes crying not as a weakness, but as a necessary and natural release, and a way to feel "lighter" afterward. Every reason offered takes the reader one step forward in the journey of becoming more accepting of their feelings instead of suppressing them.

Every page is a thoughtful invitation for parents to have an honest and heartfelt conversation with their children about their feelings. A final section of factual tidbits about tears adds a touch of curiosity to this invaluable, comforting read. We, me and my 5 year old twins, loved reading it.

[Riley-Karine Abran · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow !

Avoir un enfant, c'est certain que je lui partagerais cette histoire. Lui expliquer les différentes raisons de pleurer, et surtout, qu'il en a entièrement le droit, c'est un immense cadeau de lui faire à mon avis.

De plus, c'est tellement bien expliquée. Et que dire des illustrations ! Elles sont magnifiques et complètes bien l'ensemble.

[Juliana Schmitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um livro sensível para conversar com as crianças sobre os diferentes sentimentos que podem nos deixar com vontade de chorar (tristeza, raiva, felicidade). Trabalhei com meus alunos de 4 anos e tivemos uma conversa muito legal depois da leitura do livro. Recomendo muito pra essa faixa etária, principalmente se começam a falar que não pode chorar.

[Lisa Mcbroom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tender book about the reasons we cry. One quote I related to was "Others because they try to keep everything under lock and key but there tears find a way to escape". Also I loved how Fran Pintadera wrote about tears speaking an infinite language.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

از متن کتاب:
(بعضی روزها گریه می‌کنیم برای اینکه بگوییم دلمان می‌خواهد کسی بغلمان کند، ولی از تنهایی فقط طنین صدای خودمان را می‌شنویم.)

[Christine Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book that reads like poetry. It combines the scientific with the emotional explanations for crying that people of all ages can understand.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book whose title actually my eye and spiked my curiousity. Although we all cry I am not quite sure what I was expecting for the book to actually be whether it was a nonfictional telling with all the scientific facts or something that is completely different due to the cover.

The formatting of the book is quite simple as it follows a question-and-answer type. The boy who is with his mother at the park asks the leading question and instead of his mother changing the subject she actually somewhat opens up. Atlhough her son doesn't get to see the adventures that the reader gets to she explains what emotional tears are and how different feelings are expressed by them.

The pictures are colorful and bright while open to their very own interpretation due to there are various monster creatures lurking around.

But the cream of the book was a nice little factual section at the back and a few activities to allow readers to interact with it. And so do I recommend this book? I most definitely do, especially if you are in the process of teaching children about their feelings.

***I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review***

[itselv:#&309;]

“We cry because, sometimes, we don’t understand the world, and our tears go in search of the answers we need.”

when i read a book, or encounter any kind of media that beautifully and simplistically words out (mostly abstract) things that were hiding in the "ambiguous-nonsense-that-affects-lots-of-aspects-of-me-and-i-really-surely-do-need-to-figure-out" file in my brain, I just have to put that book in "you-will-live-rent-free-in-my-soul-and-i-will-recommend-you-to-every-and-each-other-soul" corner of my heart. and if you haven’t pick that up yet, this book defnitily is one of those cases.

[Olivia Dodson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely wonderful! This story follows Mario and journey towards understanding why people cry. The way his mother explains the vast reasons to him are gentle but clear and the use of illustrations and language throughout the book is great. I would love to use this book with a KS1 class as I feel it would open them up to the idea that it is okay to cry and that everyone will cry for a different reason. This book is beautifully written and would have a perfect place in any primary classroom.

[Donna Maguire · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this was a gorgeous little book to read.
The story is sweet and tender and the topic is covered so well.
No hesitation in giving this one 5 stars, I thought it was lovely
Very highly recommended!!

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a DRC of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.


"Some days we cry because we call out for a hug but all we get back is an echo."

Why Do We Cry? begins with a boy asking his mother why we cry. There are many answers to such a question and the mother helps the boy explore the many reasons why we may shed tears.

As the mother explains the reasons why we cry, the illustrations become a bit surreal, to show the emotions and feelings associated with crying, from sadness to anger to grief. The mother compares and contrasts, all the while weaving a poetic story about her own life or memories and tear-inducing emotions.

This book reminds us that it is okay to cry, that crying can be a release, a way to heal, or let go. It helps us understand the difference between emotions and how they affect us.
There's an educational spread at the end of the book that teaches us the different types of tears, one of which--emotional tears-- is featured in this book, what they are made of, and even how much they weigh!


This review was originally shared on Lazy Day Literature.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

After a quiet morning, Mario asked his mother why we cry. His mother explained that people cry for many different reasons. Sometimes crying is due to sadness that can’t be contained. Other times we cry because of the anger we feel like a storm cloud raining and feeling lighter afterwards. Sometimes we are confused and searching for answers. Crying helps us grow and keeps us from turning to stone. Tears can be the best medicine when we are feeling pain inside and out. And then of course, there are times when we cry for happiness.

Pintadera beautifully explores the emotions that we all feel and how they can be expressed through our tears. This is such a heartfelt book, framed by a mother talking to her son about crying. It’s so critical that boys feel that they can express emotion and cry rather than feeling emotions as rage. This book not only supports that but explains the complexity of emotions and how they change and develop.

Sender’s illustrations are gorgeously emotional. She captures the feelings of isolation, loneliness, anger and confusion with real skill, moving from one color palette to another to convey each type of emotion.

A marvelous book about emotions and emotional intelligence. Appropriate for ages 3-6.

[Autumn McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the language that was used to describe the many different reasons why we cry, specifically the fact that figurative language was incorporated combined with the beautiful illustrations on each and every page. This book helps young readers/listeners understand that everyone cries and should cry because it helps releases strong emotions that might otherwise hurt us if we kept it in all the time --it helps heal us.
I also really enjoyed the little lesson in the back of the book where it posed several questions about tears and answered them in understandable terms since it brings in the scientific reasons for tears which might help some stubborn children understand that crying is necessary for them.
My favorite quote and corresponding illustration: "Other times, we cry because we're full of anger and we need to let it out, like a storm cloud releases rain. After that, we become lighter, just like the cloud. The illustration is a younger version of the mom in the story wrapped up in a rain cloud like a blanket, her face displaying a stubborn anger.

[Mathew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Can you give a book six stars? Shame! A tender, deeply honest and moving account of a mother explaining to her child all the reasons we cry - and that it is completely okay to do so. We cry when we feel sad and we cannot hold it in, or we're angry and we need to let it out...so the mother's patient clear words guide the young boy until she closes the monologue with tears herself - but of joy at how much she loves her child.

Pintadera's lyrical, poetic verse has been trimmed and cropped to perfection (superbly translated by Mihaila Petricic, and she has worked so hard in presenting the space for Sender's stunning illustrations. Turning metaphor into a physical reality can be tricky; especially when explaining something to a young child but Sendar's imaginings are just perfect. This is a beautiful picturebook that I would hope all families encounter, share and think on.

[Minna Hughes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is perfect.

It is soft, compassionate, understanding and empathetic. It is is a clear walk through of all the reasons we might cry, and without being overwhelming or judgemental it's carefully explaining them without shunning them. I cannot express the warmth this made me feel whilst also the sadness it evoked in recognition of what is described within these beautiful pages. I love that the pages are not glossy too - whether this was intentional or not it is a beautfiully sympathetic touch to what is written within.

[Holly Pretzel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my go-to gift book for children who know loss. I bought this only seeing the cover and title. I'm a sucker for children's books that validate hard emotions like sadness. Being that boys are somehow still told that they shouldn't cry, I particularly love that a boy is asking, "Why do we cry?" It's metaphoric, poignant, and thoughtfully illustrated. A winner in my book that I think should be on every child's shelf.

[Haven Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful story and illustrations. There’s an “All About Tears” page at the end providing information on tear types, composition and structure, and most importantly why tears are good for us.

This story healed my inner child. I will be showing this to my grandfather who grew up chastising us because “tears have no purpose!” He couldn’t have been more wrong, they absolutely do, but I wouldn’t have the words until I was much older.

Please read this story to your children. It’s okay to cry!

[Isabela Ueda (Percursos literários) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so beautiful! And the pretty illustrations are so well connected to the mom's answers.
There are surely a lot of reasons why one cries, and this book peacefully chases and capture them perfectly!
By the end there's even an explanation about the different kinds of tears, which I as a grown up didn't know.
Can't wait to read it with my little one coming!

[Kris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Poetic, but honest picture book about the many reasons a person might cry. The imagery in the words an illustrations is just right for a picture book - enough is concrete to grasp and enough is nebulous enough to allow for the child to imagine and extrapolate. Lovely, and I really like the factual section about tears at the end.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

ALL about why we cry and where it comes from, be it internal turmoil or external anguish. Most importantly, this story discusses why each type of tear has a purpose and that it is ok to cry. It's more than ok, it's necessary for our own personal growth because "If we didn't cry, we'd turn to stone." The ending is tied together nicely with scientific facts about tears (types, weight, composition, shape, etc.) and a couple of activities the reader can perform.