Why Do We Cry?, Pintadera Fran

By exploring the causes of our tears, Fran Pintaderas thoughtful, poetic picture book story defends the right to cry and reinforces cryings importance as a way to release our pain, to calm us and to help us grow. Though the question is asked by the boy, the illustrations of his mothers answers feature her as a child, adding a layer of empathy to her message. Ana Senders 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. This warm, reassuring hug of a book provides just the response every adult would want to have to the central question. Supporting social-emotional learning, it makes an excellent choice for discussions about feelings and crying. To extend the concepts in the story, back matter describes the physical aspects and benefits of tears and provides two activities.