A comforting story that may appeal to young readers who’ve lost loved ones.
Barch’s debut middle-grade novel tells a story of childhood illness, death, and friendship.
Ashley and Cody have been best pals since kindergarten, and they know each other better than anyone else. Ashley has difficulty connecting with other 11-year-old girls, and Cody is teased by other boys because his best friend is a girl. During a trip to the science museum, Ashley begins to suspect something is wrong with Cody; he appears to have lost weight, he’s distant, and he falls asleep during the planetarium presentation. Later, her parents break the news to her that Cody is in the hospital, suffering from leukemia, and that he won’t be coming home. In heaven, Gabe the Bell Keeper and Cody’s ancestors are busy preparing to welcome him. The text explains that, in heaven, everyone has a bell, and whenever a person is thinking about them on Earth, this bell rings. After a tear-filled video phone call with Ashley, Cody finds himself floating through space; before long, his great-great-great-grandmother welcomes him to the afterlife. Readers see how Ashley’s life progresses without Cody as well as Cody’s activities in heaven. Telis’ realistic black-and-white illustrations at the top of each chapter feature characters and scenes to come. Over the course of this book, the author attempts to provide a comforting notion of what life after death entails, and the work stresses a strong connection between those who’ve died and those still living. The writing style is appropriate for the target audience of 9- to 13-year-olds, although the heavy subject matter may be daunting for some children, especially those who are currently experiencing grief. The work lacks humor, which might have drawn in more reluctant readers; as such, this book is better suited to kids with a more mature reading palate. The dramatic scenes are pleasantly handled, overall, but the novel might have had more impact with deeper character development.
A comforting story that may appeal to young readers who’ve lost loved ones.Pub Date: Nov. 30, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-73626-380-8
Page Count: 108
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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