Night Shift

Debi Gliori Press Reviews

Debi Gliori is amazing. Her pictures offer people an insight into depression that words often struggle to reach. She makes visible the invisible. And I for one want to thank her for that. - Matt Haig, bestselling author of Reasons to Stay Alive

I cannot recommend this beautiful picture book about depression by Debi Gliori highly enough. It's a masterpiece. - David Walliams, bestselling children's author

I'm not sure how to review Night Shift without making it personal. Stories that focus on depression are, much like depression themselves, deeply personal. I can't read this book, look at the illustrations, without making comparisons to my own experiences. So sometimes I will think yes this is me and other times no I don't feel like that . Depression is unique to the individual and while traits can be shared or similar for many I don't think it's possible for one story to ever be universal. This might come across as negative but it really isn't. Debi Gliori's has written and drawn a beautiful and dark map. It is because of the illustrations (which I think have a bigger impact because they aren't tied down by words) that this book connects so much. Night Shift is very effective and for a book so contained it's powerful.   Luna's Little Library

In only a few pages, with beautiful black and white drawings, Gliori brings home the misery of her existence in the grip of depression. Much like Haig's book, it helps convey how it feels to be depressed. The unrelenting nature of it, the desperate feeling that nothing matters. The book has a hopeful, forward-looking ending. It's perfect to give to somebody when you can't put into words how you are feeling.   Geek Dad

I thought this was a beautiful, brave and poetic book. With exquisite brevity, Debi Gliori articulates the struggle of living with depression, in stunning black and white illustrations, punctuated by a single burst of the dragon of depression's fire. Books like this are immensely important, so that the many children, teenagers and adults going through similar night journeys through the fog of illness, can feel that they are not alone in their struggles. The spread where 'something shifted and the depression lifts, is moving beyond words.   Cressida Cowell

A hugely personal book drawn from Debi's own experiences, and putting her amazing writing and illustration skills to brilliant use. Do not miss this one. It's a vital addition to your bookshelf    Read it Daddy

a beautiful and important picture book for older readers...this is a book that instantly feels special and appropriate to the subject. A poignant, empathetic and ultimately hopeful book   School Library Journal

it finishes with a little message of hope that the depression will not last forever as she stops seeing dragons but starts to see seabirds flying overhead instead. Despite its small size and only taking a few minutes to read, the book is quite a powerful and moving personal expression of depression and a worthwhile quick read.   British Journal of General Practice

Gliori uses stark language and somber charcoal-like artwork to reflect on the weight and intensity of depression.   Publishers Weekly 

A picture book about depression? Sounds like a terrible idea, but Gliori's slim volume vividly elucidates her dragons and the night skills she uses to cope.    People Magazine

In a small-format picture book aimed at a teenage and adult audience, Gliori (Side by Side) uses stark language and somber charcoal-like artwork to reflect on the weight and intensity of depression    Publishers Weekly

Night Shift by Debi Gliori is an impressive, well considered articulation of what it means and how it feels to be depressed. A sophisticated picture book forged from fog, shaped from shadows and drawn out of darkness, it gives voice to that which often remains voiceless and can isolate. Listlessness and lack of colour is captured by the black and white illustrations, punctuated occasionally by volatile red. There's a looming, oppressive mood as muscular, hollow-eyed dragons - almost parasitic in nature - become metaphors for the condition. The triumph of the book is the way it uses verbal and visual language to shine a light onto the condition, enabling this to be better explained, shared and to contribute an endpoint to some of the loneliness and stigma that often accompanies it, offering some hope without losing power or falling into platitudes   Books For Keeps