The Breaking News by Sarah Lynne Reul

The Breaking News written and illustrated by Sarah Lynne Reul has been in my classroom library since it was published in 2018 to have on hand to help my students process hard things. 

In this story a family hears bad news on the television and we read how it impacts the adults trying to make sense of it. The daughter is the narrator and notices how it's hard for her parents to conduct typical routines around the house. As she gets on the bus for school, she notices everyone else is feeling the bad news.

Her teacher urges the class to look for the helpers; "good people trying to make things better in big and small ways." The narrator decides she wants to help in a big way and tries to help around her house. Unfortunately, the big things she tried to do weren't noticed so she switched to doing small things around her house. She had hoped by helping the bad news would go away.

I love how she engages her family at the end with planting and sprucing up their neighborhood. A change in scenery, caring for something else, and improving or changing a space around us are all things we can do to help shift our mindset.

The bad news is never defined; which I love because the story can be applicable for bad news impacting countries, communities, families, and individuals. Bad news can look different for different people at different times. It's interesting what the media can determine and define as breaking news.

I didn't realize then I would find a day to share it with my whole staff and then give four copies away to helpers in my own life. This is one book I think every classroom needs.