Dedicated to all the little children with big feelings.
Text copyright © 2023 Nancy Johnson James • Illustrations copyright © 2023 Constance Moore
Book design by Melissa Nelson Greenberg
Published in 2023 by CAMERON + COMPANY, a division of ABRAMS. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available. • ISBN: 978-1-951836-88-7
Printed in China 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 CAMERON KIDS is an imprint of CAMERON + COMPANY CAMERON + COMPANY Petaluma, California www.cameronbooks.com
—N.J.J. For Denzel. May your blues be gold. —C.M.
The Many Ways I Feel
by Nancy Johnson James
illustrated by Constance Moore
My blue is the sky on a crisp, snowy day. And the ice-covered lake we pass on our way.
My blue is the river in that old country place.
By the bluegrass so soft, where we slow down our pace.
My blue is a song on a six-string guitar.
A song about love and traveling far.
My blue is the way my grandparents talk.
Their sweet old dance steps and cool, slow walk.
My blue is a wave out on the ocean rising, falling, reflecting emotion.
My blue is a storm spinning, twisting with gray. It swirls like the wind if I don’t get my way.
It makes me cry sometimes, then it makes me feel glad.
My blue is the twilight. My blue makes me pout.
With feelings so big, I just need to shout!
My blue is a blanket, soft, fuzzy, and warm, where I wrap myself tight and rest until dawn.
When my blues go cool, when my blues get calm, then I can change them to a poem or a song.
My blue is not one; they are many and old.
Blues shared with me and treasured like gold.
My blues clap, and they stomp, making music in the air.
Can you hear? Can you see?
My blues are everywhere.
