Rudi's Pond (2004)

This book was sad. There's no getting around a child dying being heartbreaking, yet at the same time the way that the other children, the main character in particular, grieved and consoled themselves was a beautiful tribute to the memory of their lost friend. ( )

The young narrator's best friend Rudi is very sick, and its hard for her to understand. When Rudi dies, the narrator and the other children in school help to build a pond by the big knobby oak to remember him by. A hummingbird feeder that Rudi made hangs by the pond, and one day a special hummingbird comes to visit. Based on a true story, Rudi's Pond is an insightful book that will help young readers to deal with loss.

This was probably one of the most touching books that I have read. This book made me cry. I think that this would be something that I would want to keep in my personal library and share with individual students who may be dealing with this or if there is an event that takes place with a classmate and death needs to be explained. This book is about a girl and a boy who are best friends and do everything together. The boy is sick a lot and the girl doesn't understand why. Her friend passes away and she doesn't know how to deal with it. The school builds a pond with a humming bird feeder to remember the boy by and a special humming bird comes to visit. Absolutely beautiful story and illustrations.

A little boy dies and comes back as a hummingbird, his scholl friends make a pond in memoriam. ( )

Part B/picture

The story talks about the beautiful friendship between a girl and her friend, Rudi. What’s memorable about this story is that Rudi plays tea time with his friend. Then one day, the girl finds out that Rudi is seriously ill and is being treated in a hospital. She cannot visit Rudi in the hospital because she is too young. Rudi ends up dying and the school dedicates a pond to remember Rudi by. This is a touching story that deals with death in such a beautiful and understanding way.