I BUILT A ROCKET SHIP

“I’m building a rocket ship out in the backyard. But it feels like something is missing.”

An unnamed, pale-skinned child with a cloud of white hair deals with the loss of a family member, implied to be the youngster’s other parent. The protagonist channels feelings of grief into the construction of an elaborate rocket ship made of cardboard boxes in the empty backyard with the goal of traveling into the dark skies to visit the missing loved one. With help from Dad, the child gathers supplies for the journey and significant objects (“the drawing you always had in your wallet,” “the blanket you never let Bernie sleep on”), leading up to the big moment: soaring amid the night skies. Lazowski’s plaintive first-person text, combined with Lounsbury’s colored-pencil illustrations, captures the youngster’s ups and downs, as well as the isolation of a sudden absence (many spreads feature the child as a lone figure amid a sea of open space in a dark palette). Dad’s initial skepticism at the project gives way to grounded encouragement, demonstrating that everyone’s journey through grief is different and reminding readers not to minimize what others are going through.

A thoughtful, considered look at loss that reaches for the stars.