Rebecca Cobb

The book's speaker is a young boy who has recently loss his mother. He tells us how he feels sad, angry, jealous, and even guilty. His father explains to him what it means when someone dies, and how he did nothing wrong. While the story was heartbreakingly hard to read, I think this book could help many younger students who are dealing with loss.

I really enjoyed this picture book. One of the reasons I liked this book was because of the writing. I think the way the author wrote the book matched the theme of the book very well. The idea of losing a parent is very overwhelming, and the author compensated that by giving each page one or two sentences. Some sentences are not even completed on the same page; they are started on one page and finished on the next page. I think this perfectly complements the story.
A second reason I liked show more this book was because it pushes readers to think about tough issues and broadens perspectives. While divorce may be a seemingly common home situation, the death of a parent is not. For any reader, this book can broaden their mind about the idea of life and death. The book goes from the idea that ‘mommy left’ to the concept of mommy’s death. I think this is an excellent example of broadening the child’s perspectives because not only is death difficult to explain, it is also difficult in general to discuss.
The big idea that I picked up on in this story is that it is okay to be upset about traumas and tragedies. The end game is to carry on through life rather than wallow in the past. show less

Chose to read for the illustrator; was not disappointed. The text is wonderful, too. This would be a good one to read *before* a loss. I'm not a huge fan of bibliotherapy as a 'read this and you'll feel better' but if, say, a kindergarten read this, then when one of their classmates did lose a family member, they might not be as clueless as otherwise. Really, though, it's such a good book, go ahead and use it whenever you think it would help, along with the other things you're doing for the show more child. show less

While very sad, this is a good book for helping children understand death and dealing with grief. Its simple language and crayon-like illustrations make the book accessible and understandable to young kids. The ending is hopeful, helping kids understand that it is okay to move on. This book is suitable for ages 3-5.
This book was found in the Pierce County Library System-South Hill