REVIEW: Happy Pants: Why is Mummy so sad?

 

Happy Pants proves PND affects the entire family.

Words: Heather Gallagher

Pictures: Liz McGrath

Wombat Books, 2014

Perinatal, or post-natal, depression (PND) affects one in seven new mothers and one in 10 new fathers in Australia, according to the end notes of this book. Happy Pants, written from the perspective of a child, shows how the illness impacts an entire family; that support and understanding is needed; and that there is no quick-fix. But this is not a clinical examination of the illness - it's written from the perspective of a child, who knows Mum isn't her usual self but doesn't know why.

Destiny on and off the page

Melissa Wray's debut novel
was released in 2012.

Pivotal moments affect the lives of authors and characters, as Melissa Wray discovered.



A father saying ‘yes’ to his daughter proved a pivotal moment in the life of author Melissa Wray, and the protagonist, Jessica, in Melissa’s debut young adult novel Destiny Road. Two years after the book’s launch, the Geelong-based author looks back on her path to writing the novel, which she describes as “a story if choices, consequences, heartbreak and acceptance”.

Melissa has written a moving account on her blog about how pivotal moments, regret and death led to Destiny Road, saying “It came about because one night I was lying in bed and couldn’t sleep. There was an unspoken conversation going on in my mind.”

Victims and bullies: the mystery revealed

Junior fiction novel STOP the Bully.

STOP the Bully

Author: Karen Tyrrell


Bullying is an ongoing problem in schools, and the reasons why some kids are victims and others bullies is often a mystery. In STOP the Bully, Queensland author Karen Tyrrell has revealed the mystery of the bullying dilemma from all perspectives, including the victim and the bully.

Group works

A writers’ group or professional organisation can help develop confidence

Writing can be an isolating endeavour. It’s rarely collaborative – at least in the early stages, when you’re drawing out ideas into coherent stories. Time dissolves as you struggle over phrases, finding the right words. Characters sometimes behave, sometimes they don’t; and manuscripts can be put to one side, at least for a while, until you figure out what to do with that collection of letters on the page. But when you’re in the midst of it – when the story flows, the characters work and the setting is engaging to create – you can disappear into the pages. Nothing outside the room matters, time is irrelevant. Food, drink and sleep are no longer required. You’re alone but not lonely, as you live in the world you create.

Personal struggle inspires PND story

Happy Pants shows post-natal depression
affects the entire family, and it's no-one's fault.

Happy Pants

Writer: Heather Gallagher

Illustrator: Liz McGrath

Publisher: Wombat Books

A personal battle with post-natal, or perinatal, depression drove Heather Gallagher to write Happy Pants out of a desire to help families understand the illness together.

“During my own battle with PND, one of my greatest concerns was the possible impact I was having on my children,” Heather said. “It’s no-one’s fault.”