MAYBE DYING IS LIKE BECOMING A BUTTERFLY

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MAYBE DYING IS LIKE BECOMING A BUTTERFLY

Name: MAYBE DYING IS LIKE BECOMING A BUTTERFLY
Author: Pimm van Hest
ISBN: 978-1-60537-494-9

by Pimm van Hest ; illustrated by Lisa Brandenburg ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 29, 2019

Straightforward, gentle, useful, and engaging.

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A young child and grandfather have a conversation about death.

When Grandpa suggests that a caterpillar might die if Christopher puts it in a jar, Christopher asks some questions about death, beginning with “Are you going to die, Grandpa?” The response: “Someday, sweetheart. But I hope not too soon.” The pair, both white, with big heads and small bodies in the cartoonlike illustrations, are walking and playing together in a park. Grandpa is stooped and walks with a cane; Christopher wears yellow boots. Their simple exchange covers a lot of philosophical ground. Grandpa acknowledges no one knows when they will die and that Christopher could die before him, but that the chance is small. Grandpa allows that “no one really knows” what happens after death, but he tells Christopher that some people think of heaven (“a place without sadness or war”), others of rebirth (“each time, you get wiser”), and others of “nothing” (“the same as before you were born”). The pair discusses the whys of death (“dying is part of life”), birth (“to learn all sorts of things”), and feelings of fear or comfort about dying. A concluding letter from Christopher to Grandpa, accompanied by an illustration of Christopher alone, offers the titular analogy about becoming a butterfly. Backmatter offers a brief comment and tips for discussion from a grief therapist.

Straightforward, gentle, useful, and engaging. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-60537-494-9

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Clavis

Review Posted Online: July 27, 2019

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2019

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

- BOOK REVIEW
A COMPLIMENT WITH WINGS
by Pimm van Hest ; illustrated by Nynke Mare Talsma

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ON THE FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN

by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Laura Hughes ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 21, 2016

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of...

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Rabe follows a young girl through her first 12 days of kindergarten in this book based on the familiar Christmas carol.

The typical firsts of school are here: riding the bus, making friends, sliding on the playground slide, counting, sorting shapes, laughing at lunch, painting, singing, reading, running, jumping rope, and going on a field trip. While the days are given ordinal numbers, the song skips the cardinal numbers in the verses, and the rhythm is sometimes off: “On the second day of kindergarten / I thought it was so cool / making lots of friends / and riding the bus to my school!” The narrator is a white brunette who wears either a tunic or a dress each day, making her pretty easy to differentiate from her classmates, a nice mix in terms of race; two students even sport glasses. The children in the ink, paint, and collage digital spreads show a variety of emotions, but most are happy to be at school, and the surroundings will be familiar to those who have made an orientation visit to their own schools.

While this is a fairly bland treatment compared to Deborah Lee Rose and Carey Armstrong-Ellis’ The Twelve Days of Kindergarten (2003), it basically gets the job done. (Picture book. 4-7)

Pub Date: June 21, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-06-234834-0

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Sarah Jennings

- BOOK REVIEW
FIVE LITTLE BUNNIES
by Tish Rabe ; illustrated by Dan Yaccarino

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IMANI'S MOON

by JaNay Brown-Wood ; illustrated by Hazel Mitchell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 14, 2014

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child...

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Imani endures the insults heaped upon her by the other village children, but she never gives up her dreams.

The Masai girl is tiny compared to the other children, but she is full of imagination and perseverance. Luckily, she has a mother who believes in her and tells her stories that will fuel that imagination. Mama tells her about the moon goddess, Olapa, who wins over the sun god. She tells Imani about Anansi, the trickster spider who vanquishes a larger snake. (Troublingly, the fact that Anansi is a West African figure, not of the Masai, goes unaddressed in both text and author’s note.) Inspired, the tiny girl tries to find new ways to achieve her dream: to touch the moon. One day, after crashing to the ground yet again when her leafy wings fail, she is ready to forget her hopes. That night, she witnesses the adumu, the special warriors’ jumping dance. Imani wakes the next morning, determined to jump to the moon. After jumping all day, she reaches the moon, meets Olapa and receives a special present from the goddess, a small moon rock. Now she becomes the storyteller when she relates her adventure to Mama. The watercolor-and-graphite illustrations have been enhanced digitally, and the night scenes of storytelling and fantasy with their glowing stars and moons have a more powerful impact than the daytime scenes, with their blander colors.

While the blend of folklore, fantasy and realism is certainly far-fetched, Imani, with her winning personality, is a child to be admired. (Picture book. 5-8)