Silver Matilda

Get to Know Me: Depression

Louise Lightfoot, Catherine Hicks

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2019
• eBook ISBN: 9781351164740
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

The 'Get to Know Me' series is aimed at children with additional needs and those who support them in the classroom. Developed by child psychologist Dr Louise Lightfoot and illustrated by Catherine Hicks, the resources in this series include activities specific to anxiety, depression and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This book, Silver Matilda, has been designed to support the individual child but also to be used in whole class teaching, to encourage an empathetic and inclusive environment.

In this book, we meet Silver Matilda, a bird with silver feathers known for her beauty and graceful flight. The story follows Matilda as she loses her bright feathers and ashamed, hides away from the world until one day an owl comes and sits with her. The owl shows Matilda empathy and stays with her whilst she recovers and watches as she becomes stronger through her experience.

This book was written with children with depression in mind, providing an opportunity to relate to Matilda's thoughts, feelings, behaviours and experiences. However, children with a range of needs may benefit from the story. The book is written in a narrative style, so it does not use diagnostic labels and is not intended for this purpose. Instead the focus is on creating a common language which children can understand and use to make sense of how they are feeling.

A practitioner guidebook (ISBN 9780815349433) and draw along version (ISBN 9780815349464) are also available.

Silver Matilda – A picture Book Story

There once was bird
She was awesome and bright,
You might think her α star
If you saw her at night.

Her name was Matilda,
And everyone knew
Of this beautiful bird
And all she could do.

Her eyes were like diamonds
That glistened and shone,
With a waterfall tail
That flowed on and on.

She danced on the clouds
And breezed through the sky;
She swirled and she twirled
And she fluttered on by.

You could not forget her
Once you’d seen her go by;
You could only be dazzled
As she’d brighten the sky.

She bathed in the sunlight
On a bright summer's day,
Preening her feathers
Shining silvery grey.

She noticed a feather
Fall down to the floor;
She scrambled in panic
Afraid to see more.

And tears filled her eyes
As she looked all around
At the glistening trail
That littered the ground.

And that’s how it started;
On that very day
Matilda could feel herself
Fading away.

She didn’t feel bright
Now she felt very small;
Now she didn’t feel a bit like
Matilda at all.

So she sat in a huddle
Trying to hide in her wings;
Away from the world
And all troubling things.

But now all her feathers
Had fallen away,
She was no longer silver
She only felt grey.

So she sat all alone
For the longest of whiles,
And felt far away
From a world full of smiles.

Then, all of a sudden,
She heard a voice say,
"Hello there Matilda
Are you hiding away?"

She felt so embarrassed;
“Please close your eyes,
I’m Silver Matilda,
the Queen of the skies.

“You can’t see me like this
I’m broken and small.
I’ve lost all my feathers
Now I’m nothing at all.”

"I'm Owen," said the owl
Who sat down by her side.
"Well, I see a bird
Who is hurting inside.

"Don't feel afraid,
As from time to time
We all feel alone
And we might lose our shine.

"So we might need a friend
To help us find light,
Or simply to be there
As long as it's night."

And as the time passed
The owl didn't go,
He sat by her side
Until there was snow.

And the world filled with colour
And was no longer grey,
She felt herself change
And night turned to day.

Her heart filled...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedications
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Silver Matilda - A picture book story
• Silver Matilda - Text only version