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THE GOODBYE BOOK

Name: THE GOODBYE BOOK
Author: Todd Parr
ISBN: 978-0-316-40497-6

by Todd Parr ; illustrated by Todd Parr ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 3, 2015

An excellent guide to grief for a multitude of situations.

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Bestselling author Parr turns his trademark combination of boldly colored, simple illustrations and matter-of-fact, streamlined text to the topic of loss.

Without ever mentioning the word death, Parr presents a story in his illustrations of a goldfish who is missing his green fish friend; a redheaded child and a black-and-white dog are also looking sad, and a photo of the missing fish is framed on the table. The text speaks directly to readers, moving from the opening sentence, “It’s hard to say goodbye to someone,” to an exploration of some of the varied feelings readers might have and how they play out in behaviors. The book manages to address many of the aspects of grief: you may not feel like eating or sleeping, or you may pretend it never happened. But eventually, you’ll start to remember all the good times you shared with the one you are missing, though not all your days will be good. The goldfish is a good guide on the journey, with just enough anthropomorphization for kids to identify with it but leaving some ambiguity so children going through many types of loss can relate—perhaps the fish friend just moved to a new home? With very few props, a line mouth, and a dot eye, Parr manages to give his fish a wide range of emotions and behaviors.

An excellent guide to grief for a multitude of situations. (Picture book. 3-8)

Pub Date: Nov. 3, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-316-40497-6

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Aug. 25, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

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YOU WILL ALWAYS HAVE ME
by Todd Parr ; illustrated by Todd Parr

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THE MONSTER MAC AND CHEESE PARTY
by Todd Parr ; illustrated by Todd Parr

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by Todd Parr ; illustrated by Todd Parr

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CARPENTER'S HELPER

by Sybil Rosen ; illustrated by Camille Garoche ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 16, 2021

Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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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)