When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left

When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left is a simple, beautiful book about the way to get back on track when nothing is going ‘right’. The story starts out in a manner like that of Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day but immediately takes a turn left to make the day better instead of dwelling on everything that is making it go poorly. The child in When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left decides that worries, doubts, fears, and frustrations should be left behind while navigating through the day, and eventually things start going ‘right’. On the way home, while picking up the worries, fears, frustrations, and doubts, the child discovers that leaving behind these negative things caused them to get smaller throughout the day rather than bigger, and they became an easier burden to carry.

Reynolds, the award-winning illustrator and author, did an excellent job illustrating this story in his signature style and font which will immediately bring to mind some of his books such as The Dot, Ish, and Sky Color. Readers may also recognize Reynold’s art from the “Judy Moody and Stink” books, as well as The Water Princess, I Am Yoga and I Am Peace. The progression of illustrations, particularly the background colours, throughout the story are subtle yet extremely impactful; the book starts with a dreary purplish rainy background and progressively gets lighter and lighter as the child leaves the negative things behind. The child’s day brightens to a sunshine yellow, followed by a clear, starry night. The visual elements behind the child’s emotions are extremely powerful and can be used to talk to children about representation of feelings and how colours are used as to symbolize different things.

As a reader, however, don’t allow yourself to be fooled by the familiar illustrations in When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left; this story isn’t written by Reynolds! Marc Colagiovanni has made a tremendous impact with his debut picture book. Though When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left ‘oversimplifies’ the ease of leaving behind or forgetting about your worries, doubts, fears, and frustrations, it is an excellent introduction about the strategies that one can use to combat a trying day and the importance and impact of forgetting about one’s worries, doubts, fears, and frustrations for a short time. The words of these ‘monsters’ (as represented in the story) are only as big and impactful as we allow them to be by listening to them. What’s paramount about Colagiovanni’s story is that he doesn’t pretend that worries, doubts, fears, and frustrations will just go away, or that they can be left behind completely. This story is about not letting them control your life and about managing them so they become smaller and are easier burdens to carry.

The reading level of this book would be for strong Grade 1 readers and up, though the message is understandable for almost any age. Indeed, this book will undoubtedly be a re-read for young and old alike due to its simplicity and important message that humans so easily forget. When Things Aren’t Going Right, Go Left has the potential to become a steadfast classic and is a “must have” for classrooms, libraries, homes, and for many other applications like yoga studios or counselling offices.