The Heart and the Bottle

Celebrated (and prolific!) author/artist Oliver Jeffers explores the nature of grief in this poignant picture-book, following the story of a young girl who is filled with wonder at the world, and who shares that wonder with a beloved elder. When that elder - a father, perhaps a grandfather? - disappears from her life, the girl shuts her heart in a bottle, in order to protect it from the griefs of life. But without her heart, she finds that she has become blind to the beauty and wonder she once saw all around her. It takes another little wonder-filled girl, whom she encounters when she herself is a little older, to help her begin to free her heart from its self-imposed exile...

A simple but emotionally resonant text, one which captures show more the grieving process perfectly, is paired with beautiful artwork in The Heart and the Bottle, creating an understated but powerful picture-book experience. I particularly appreciated the message, implicit in the story, that in order to experience joy and wonder, we must also endure pain and sorrow, something the girl eventually learns through her own experiences. Jeffers has a perceptive eye for the human condition here, and I found the idea, also highlighted in the story, that we can get so out of the habit of opening our hearts, that we forget how to do so, quite powerful. The illustrations are lovely, whether they communicate the desolation the girl feels, when confronting loss (as represented by an empty chair), or the joy she experiences, when the world opens up to her again (as depicted by the rainbow-colored smorgasbord of images that flow from her head, toward the conclusion of the tale). Recommended to Jeffers fans, and to anyone looking for children's stories which explore loss and grief. show less

The story “The Heart and the Bottle” by Oliver Jeffers is a wonderful story filled with descriptive language, vivid images, and an abundance of symbolism. Throughout the story Jeffers describes the emotional journey of a young girl who looses her passion for discovery with the loss of a loved one. Struggling to cope with her loss Jeffers describes how “the girl thought the best thing to do was to put her heart in a safe place for the time being. So she put it in a bottle and hung it around her neck”. Jeffers also describes how she forgot about everything she loved “ she forgot about the stars, and stopped taking notice of the sea”, and how heavy the heart in the bottle around her neck felt. The vivid images allows the reader show more to follow the storyline, as well as get a sense of the sadness the main character felt. This helps the reader feel as if they are part of the story and watching the character evolve. The story is filled with symbolism especially with regards to the heart in the bottle which symbolizes trying to detach from feelings after loss. This story pushes readers to think about loss and grief and how it is important to let life’s experience fuel one’s passions not deter them from it. The overall meaning of this story is although one might feel things that hurt, nothing hurts more than losing yourself and your ability to see the beauty in life. show less

This is the best picture book about complicated grief I’ve ever read, and one of the best books about it on the subject, period. It’s lovely in every way. It would make a wonderful present for children who’ve lost a loved one, or someone of any age who’s suffered a loss, both recently and long ago. It’s also a great bibliotherapy book for children who are grieving.

I came close to crying, but this overall this is an uplifting book that also made me smile.

There is a perfect amount of text and of pictures.

I appreciated how the paper pages are thicker than in most books and sturdy, but this is not a board book.

I got a kick out of how the heart was drawn to more resemble a real human heart than a typical heart symbol. And then on show more the inside last page I loved how some parts of the cardiovascular system are shown and listed.

Lovely illustrations. They’re colorful and sweet and interesting and many are very intricate, except for the also sweet, meaningful, simple drawings on the inside front cover.

Nice touch to have a photo of the author-illustrator as a young boy in the author bio section on the inside back cover of the book. I love it when authors of children’s books do this!

This is a very smart and a very touching book.

Highly recommended for child therapists, children, parents, and anyone who’s recently or long ago suffered the still painful loss of a loved one or knows someone who has. show less

A young girl has an endless curiosity about the world, and is introduced to even further wonders than she can observe with her own eyes by a man - perhaps her father - who is shown reading books to her. But then the man disappears. This book is written with little text and so the exact details are vague, however, I took it that the man died. The girl puts her heart into a bottle, and much later in her life, attempts to free her heart from that same bottle. Through powerful metaphor, the human ability to compartmentalize the painful experiences of death, separation, and loss are shown in a way that young readers can see and understand. Written almost like a fairytale. Cool collages that include scientific illustrations.

Although it took a couple of read-throughs to truly grasp the message of this story, I found myself loving it the more I understood what the character was going through. This book perfectly illustrates the raw realities of dealing with death and grief at a young age. It is something that not all children will go through but some may need some clarity and support reasoning with. A little girl with many wonders and curiosities about the world, explores with her dad and draws pictures for him. One day he isn't there to look at pictures and she doesn't know how to handle the pain in her heart. She decided to take her heart out of her body and put it in a bottle to wear as a necklace but she soon realized that she no longer had any interests show more in the world without it. She tries to get it out of the bottle but it won't break. She finally finds a little girl with the wonders and curiosities she used to have about the world and she is able to break the bottle open for her. With her heart back in place, she can finally wonder about life again. I think the overall message here is that sometimes we need other people in our life to teach us and remind us how to love and live again. I would recommend this book to anyone because it is so genuine and realistic and delivers a meaningful message in an incredibly graceful way. show less

This ground breaking book is about a girl that had a happy life until she lost her father. It says that when she experienced hurt and loss she decided to put her heart inside a jar so it wouldn't get hurt. She goes through life and is very sad throughout it until one day she takes her heart out of the jar and even though she is vulnerable she feels better. This book is amazing for anyone of any age that has or is going through the loss of a loved one, it shows that the situation hurts and you may want to put your heart in a safe place but in the end to feel better you need to open up. This book hits the topic in a safe way that reading it to a child would help them heal.

Oh my gosh.... this book. I am obsessed. A little girl who dreams that anything is possible and lives full of hope and wonder, finds an empty chair one day. After finding this empty chair, she cannot feel her heart anymore and instead keeps it in a jar around her neck. She goes through life without dreaming, without creativity or drive, just sad, wondering and existing. Until one day she finds a little girl to help her get her heart from the bottle. GREAT book for teaching determining importance. What is the importance of the chair? Why do you think she decided to keep her heart in a bottle after finding the empty chair? Why is the little girl able to get her heart out of the bottle when she was not? Do you think the chair and the show more little girl symbolize anything? What is the importance of the bottle around the heart? Where and why did this story change? With a lot of symbolism and small details the book can be read several times- I read it to my adult coworkers who did not grasp the significance the first time through. show less