A little girl and her grandmother learn the meaning of loss. Five-and-three-quarter-year-old Astrid and her teddy bear Bjorn have always been best friends, a real team. Bjorn helps Astrid feel brave when she climbs up to her tree house and shoos away monsters under her bed. When Astrid learns that her grandfather in Sweden has died and her Swedish grandmother, Mormor, is coming to live with them, she looks forward to a new playmate. But all the grieving Mormor wants to do is sit alone and criticize Astrid for playing with a “dirty old sak” like Bjorn. Astrid wants Mormor to go away. But when Astrid loses Bjorn on the way to school, Mormor comes to the rescue and the two generations realize they have a lot in common. Full-page colored-pencil illustrations perfectly express the emotion of Astrid and Mormor’s separate losses and eventual bonding. Pictures and text show how a good dose of kindness can salve sorrow’s wounds. (Picture book. 4-8)
