A Taste of Blackberries by Doris Buchanan…

A Taste of Blackberries (original 1973; edition 1992)

by Doris Buchanan Smith, Michael Wimmer (Illustrator)

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Conversations / Mentions
1,354	15	13,863	(4.01)	1 / 14
A young boy recounts his efforts to adjust to the accidental death of his best friend.

▾Book information

Member:	jschneider156
Title:	A Taste of Blackberries
Authors:	Doris Buchanan Smith
Other authors:	Michael Wimmer (Illustrator)
Info:	HarperCollins (1992), Edition: Revised, Paperback, 96 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	None

Work Information

A Taste of Blackberries by Doris Buchanan Smith (1973)

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	Group › Topic	Messages	Last Message
	Name that Book: YA/Children's Book - Blackberries? and Boy who's father or mother dies	8 unread / 8	bookel, July 2011

» See also 14 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 15 (next | show all)

A short novel for older elementary age children about the death of a child their age. The narrator is a boy whose best friend is killed by a couple of bee stings. As the boy (whose name is never given) tells the story, we experience grief and loss through the eyes of a child experiencing the death of a close friend his own age. A sad and honest book, simply written. (

)

fingerpost | Jul 1, 2023 |

Fiction

PAFM | Oct 19, 2019 |

A book about friendship and loss.

LibraryPAH | Jan 24, 2019 |

A book about friendship and loss.

LibraryPAH | Jan 10, 2019 |

Holly wanted me to read this book because she read it in school and loved it. I have to agree it was a very good book and actually made both of us cry. (

)

Electablue | Apr 20, 2016 |

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▾Published reviews

4 reviews

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thingScore 100

The sensitivity with which the attendant sorrow and guilt are treated makes this an outstanding book. It blazed the way for the many other grief books that quickly followed, but few have approached the place of honor this one holds.

added by RandySmith | editThe Read-Aloud Handbook (Penguin Books, 2006), Jim Trelease (Jul 28, 2006)

Rightfully viewed, along with Katherine Paterson's Bridge to Terabithia (Un Puente hasta Terabithia, Alfaguara, 1995), as one of the seminal children's books on the subject of death, Rioja's clear translation retains the understatement, emotion, and punch of the English original.

added by RandySmith | editSchool Library Journal, Ann Welton (Dec 1, 2002)

It will be difficult to find a children’s book this autumn by a new author as good as Doris Buchanan Smith’s A Taste of Blackberries.

added by RandySmith | editTimes Literary Supplement, David Rees (Sep 1, 1975)

Deals honestly and emphatically with the range of emotions... the story is not, however an elegy; but a celebration of the continuity of the life-death cycle.

added by RandySmith | editThe Atlanta Journal, Cynthia Westway (Aug 5, 1973)

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (4 possible)

Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Doris Buchanan Smith	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Post, Mance	Illustrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Uyl, Bob den	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed