You Weren't With Me

by Chandra Ghosh Ippen, Erich Ippen Jr (Illustrator)

Overview

Little Rabbit and Big Rabbit are together after a difficult separation, but even though they missed each other, Little Rabbit is not ready to cuddle up and receive Big Rabbit's love. Little Rabbit needs Big Rabbit to understand what it felt like when they were apart. "Sometimes I am very mad. I don't understand why you weren't with me," says Little Rabbit, "I worry you will go away again." Big Rabbit listens carefully and helps Little Rabbit to feel understood and loved. This story was designed to help parents and children talk about difficult separations, reconnect, and find their way back to each other.

The book may be helpful to families who have experienced:

• Divorce or caregiver separation
• Caregiver work-related separations
• Military service related separations
• Immigration related separations
• Child welfare related separations
• Parental incarceration
• Parental substance use related separations

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781950168026
Publisher:	Piplo Productions
Publication date:	02/14/2019
Pages:	34
Sales rank:	158,133
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.09(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Chandra combines her love of story and cute creatures with her training in clinical psychology. She has co-authored over 20 publications related to trauma and diversity-informed practice and has over 10 years of experience conducting trainings nationally and internationally. In her role as a clinician, supervisor, and the Director of Dissemination and Implementation of Child-Parent Psychotherapy, she works to support families who have been impacted by traumatic separations. She hopes this book and the rabbits help families to talk about difficult separations and reconnect.

As a boy, Erich was always interested in cartoons and character design. In his professional career, he has created visual effects for movies like Rango, Harry Potter, The Avengers, Star Wars and many others. He is also a singer, songwriter, music producer and founding member of the local San Francisco band, District 8.

Editorial Reviews

2022-11-01
Two recently reunited rabbits discuss their feelings about their separation in Ghosh Ippen’s picture book.

Little Rabbit sighs and tells Big Rabbit, “When you weren’t with me, I missed you so much.” Little Rabbit wanted to be held, and Big Rabbit wanted to hug the youngster. Big Rabbit apologizes for not being there and reassures Little Rabbit that they’re together now. They acknowledge that Little Rabbit likely felt confused, scared, hurt, sad, angry, and alone. Big Rabbit wants to know what Little Rabbit did during their separation and if “good people” helped, although readers may wonder if they meant “good rabbits.” Ghosh Ippen, the associate director of the Child Trauma Research Program at the University of California, San Francisco, and illustrator Erich Ippen Jr. previously collaborated on Once I Was Very Very Scared (2017). The images effectively use washes of color; Little Rabbit is surrounded by orange when mad, dark blue when worried, green when having a stomachache, and mauve when frightened. Using nongendered rabbits helps to make the story universal and child-friendly. The rabbits start out quite far apart on green grass, but their distance lessens until they’re “quite close” and blue sky appears. The typeface is pleasant to read but uses only uppercase N’s, which may be confusing to young readers.

A sensitive, reassuring, and well-illustrated work.

Kirkus Reviews