‘Finding a still warm but dead bird, a group of children give it a fitting burial and every day, until they forget, come again to the woods to sing to the dead bird and place fresh flowers on its grave. An excellent handling of the subject of death in which all young children have a natural interest.’ —BL.
| ||||||||||||||||||
Browse our Bookshelf Favorites store for big savings on popular fiction, nonfiction, children's books, and more. |
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Few writers have been as attuned to the concerns and emotions of childhood as Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952). A graduate of Hollins College and the progressive Bank Street College of Education, she combined her literary aspirations with the study of child development. Her unique ability to see the world through a child's eyes is unequaled. Her many classic books continue to delight thousands of young listeners and readers year after year.
Muy pocos escritores de literatura infantil han logrado captar las emociones e inquietudes de la niñez como Margaret Wise Brown (1910-1952). Sus numerosos y ya clásicos libros y grabaciones continúan deleitando a lectores y oyentes de todas las edades.
Remy Charlip is the author and artist of more than thirty books, including such modern classics as Fortunately, I Love You, Arm in Arm, Thirteen, Mother Mother I Feel Sick and, more recently, Sleepytime Rhyme and Baby Hearts and Baby Flowers. Mr. Charlip's diverse career has included performing with John Cage, dancing and designing costumes for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, cofounding the Paper Bag Players, serving as head of the Children's Theater and Literature Department at Sarah Lawrence College, winning three New York Times Best Illustrated Book of the Year citations, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. Remy Charlip lives in San Francisco, California.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images? |
More About the Author
Margaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and Runaway Bunny. Even though she died over 45 years ago, her books still sell very well. Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading. She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them. She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper. Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
Customer Reviews
Share your thoughts with other customers
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
43 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Turtleback
In 1964 I found this book in a library in Augsburg, Germany while searching for a way to explain to my 5 year old daughter the sudden death of her 3 month old brother. I checked the book out and read it to her that afternoon. The simple story of a group of children finding the dead bird and burying it with a little, sincere and heart-felt ceremony was comforting to her, and with the last picture of the children playing nearby and falling leaves beginning to cover the little grave she was able to understand the finality of death. She said, "And we'll always be able to remember Matt when we want to, won't we, Dad?" This is the only "real" Childrens' book about death that I have ever seen. It should be in every pre-school and kindergarten library; no, in every library!
15 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book in a discount bin (along with William's Doll, another inexpensive paperback classic!) many years ago when my older kids (now 13 and 14) were toddlers.
I brought it out recently when my father died and it sat all week in our shiva house, where it evoked a whole range of reactions from all the adults my 3-year-old daughter asked to read it to her (over and over and over, which should tell you something).
While many adults reading the book were taken aback by the format of words appearing on pages with no pictures (and vice versa), kids have always seemed to understand it intrinsically: the format forces you to hear the words, pause, see the picture, then pause again before the next words.
This format uniquely allows kids breathing room to think their own thoughts about the pictures and the story.
Other adults were appalled that the children were dealing with death all alone, and that the book actually used the word "dead" without euphemism. Again, that's a-okay in my book: the right words are the only words I try to use with my kids, even if those words are not always lovely. There'll be time enough later on to learn the thousand euphemisms for death.
A few practical folks just pointed out that it's not advisable for anyone to handle dead wildlife. Of course not. I make a point of telling my kids that if they find a dead bird (especially in this era of West Nile) that they're to come show me.
In any event: the book. The simple, childish illustrations by Remy Charlip are timeless and unforgettable and complement the simplicity of the storyline perfectly.
The last page of the book adds so much simply by mentioning that the children do eventually forget about the dead bird. In the final picture, they're playing ball in a nearby field. It's a beautiful day: life goes on.
Death is part of life, but it's not what life is all about. Life, especially for kids, is about the ballgames, and the grief / mourning process is how we get ourselves back to that normal.
Unlike other books for kids about death, it doesn't deal at all with the specifics of dying OR losing someone you love. It simply begins when the bird is dead. Those are important themes, but for younger kids, I have found it so helpful to break it down: the conversation about death does not HAVE to be the conversation about dying, if that makes any sense.
Piece by piece, kids eventually make sense of the world around them. Books like this one really help.
I brought it out recently when my father died and it sat all week in our shiva house, where it evoked a whole range of reactions from all the adults my 3-year-old daughter asked to read it to her (over and over and over, which should tell you something).
While many adults reading the book were taken aback by the format of words appearing on pages with no pictures (and vice versa), kids have always seemed to understand it intrinsically: the format forces you to hear the words, pause, see the picture, then pause again before the next words.
This format uniquely allows kids breathing room to think their own thoughts about the pictures and the story.
Other adults were appalled that the children were dealing with death all alone, and that the book actually used the word "dead" without euphemism. Again, that's a-okay in my book: the right words are the only words I try to use with my kids, even if those words are not always lovely. There'll be time enough later on to learn the thousand euphemisms for death.
A few practical folks just pointed out that it's not advisable for anyone to handle dead wildlife. Of course not. I make a point of telling my kids that if they find a dead bird (especially in this era of West Nile) that they're to come show me.
In any event: the book. The simple, childish illustrations by Remy Charlip are timeless and unforgettable and complement the simplicity of the storyline perfectly.
The last page of the book adds so much simply by mentioning that the children do eventually forget about the dead bird. In the final picture, they're playing ball in a nearby field. It's a beautiful day: life goes on.
Death is part of life, but it's not what life is all about. Life, especially for kids, is about the ballgames, and the grief / mourning process is how we get ourselves back to that normal.
Unlike other books for kids about death, it doesn't deal at all with the specifics of dying OR losing someone you love. It simply begins when the bird is dead. Those are important themes, but for younger kids, I have found it so helpful to break it down: the conversation about death does not HAVE to be the conversation about dying, if that makes any sense.
Piece by piece, kids eventually make sense of the world around them. Books like this one really help.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Prof Richard
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I've known this book since my kids were small, 40 years ago. It's a treasure of children's literature, and I am appalled to find it out of print. It's a perfect work of art - not a line, not a word out of place. The delicacy of the last sentence - "And every day, until they forgot..." with the children's "gravestone" in the illustration receding into the darkness among the trees - is unsurpassable. Please, someone, reprint it!
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
So You'd Like to...
|
|
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > Children's Books > Animals > Birds
- Books > Children's Books > Classics
