Customer Reviews

Each Little Bird That Sings

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The other day I was speaking to a employee of the publishing house of Harcourt, Inc. We chatted about this and that but eventually I had to ask. What, in this employee's opinion, was Harcourt's best bet for the 2006 Newbery Award? I was told that word on the street was that people were all ah-buzz over author Deborah Wiles', "Each Little Bird That Sings". I had not heard of this book myself. Despite the fact that I am a children's librarian, and despite the fact that the book was sitting easy-peasy on my bookshelf, I hadn't thus far deigned to take it down and give it a look-see. In doing so I saw all sorts of things that could make it an award winner. Death, good writing, and a dog who shuffles off this mortal coil. But beyond the obvious depressing aspects, Wiles shocked me with the quality of the book. It's peppered with folksy wisdom and tidbits of advice about "life", but never in a way that feels like the author's laying it on too thick. "Each Little Bird That Sings" is a delicate balancing act between humor and pain and solid sensible advice for getting through an uneasy world.

When you grow up in a funeral home like Comfort Snowberger has, you have a healthy understanding of death. And within a single year Comfort's Great-great-aunt Florentine and Great-uncle Edisto have joined the choir invisible. When Edisto died the funeral would have been beautiful had it not been for Comfort's scrawny, big-eyed, unable-to-quite-grasp-the-concept-of-dying, seven-year-old cousin Peach. Peach managed to faint into a punch bowl, throw up, scream, and generally (in Comfort's eyes) make a nuisance of himself. Now Florentine's funeral is coming up and Peach is in Comfort's life again. Even worse, her best friend Declaration Johnson has suddenly turned mean. Real mean. If it weren't for her dog Dismay, Comfort might never know how to get through the next few days. But it takes losing the most important thing in her world to get our heroine to realize what it is to forgive both yourself and others around you.

The book begins with a matter-of-fact mention that Comfort's Great-great-aunt Florentine and Great-uncle Edisto are both dead. When you read this, you're inclined to laugh. A serious subject taken with this much upfront honesty often elicits a nervous chuckle from the kid reading the book. Wiles then immediately tells you exactly who has died and why they were important to the world. Every character is a distinct individual and their every action is completely understandable. To Comfort, growing up with death every day, Peach's violent reaction to it is immature and ridiculous. She's unable to see it his way, consequently making him have to come over to her way of thinking by the story's end. Now I'm about to spout an opinion that will give away a big ole plot point. SPOILER ALERT, if you will. If you would like to read this book through and not have this detail spoiled for you, stop reading right now and just know that I think this story is top notch. A pip. Swell. Nifty. You get the drift. Okay, here's my spoiler. In the book the dog, Dismay, dies. Which technically makes this a "dead dog book". The libraries of America overflow with this genre. In a recent meeting with librarians from Brooklyn and Queens this book's name came up and someone categorized it as yet another "dead dog book". I hadn't read it, so I couldn't defend it, but it really is more than that. Yes, the dog dies. Offscreen, I might add. But because of the arc of the story, the dog had to die. Peach has to learn exactly how to deal with the death of not just old people who are ready to go on to the next world but also the young who might have done so much had they lived. And yet the book isn't depressing. Remarkable, no?

The book could easily have turned cutesy or, 190 degrees the other way, overly morbid. That it is neither of these is something just short of a miracle. About the time Peach has thrown himself into the coffin of Florentine and is refusing to let go of her neck... well that was the moment I was hooked. As an author, Wiles has guts. She knows just when to sustain a moment or bring it up short. And I challenge anyone to read the last sentence in the book (which is just a hair short of utterly brilliant) and NOT find yourself snuffling back a tear or two. Admittedly, I had a hard time understanding why Peach keeps getting taken to the funerals of the people he loves. In my family, children do not attend funerals. Period. But this is a different family with a different set of values and as such what they do is understandable. They think their kids should understand death.

To be perfectly frank, this book does exactly what the lamentable, "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan failed to. Where "Ida B" was all fawning treacle and too often felt like the author was trying too hard, "Each Little Bird That Sings" appears effortless. It's the kind of story that fellow author Joan Bauer tries to write for young teenagers but who also often falls into the overly saccharine trap of too-many-platitudes-too-little-prose. I was also amazed that author Katherine Hannigan can claim to be friends with such fellow big kiddie lit authors as Nancy Werlin, Deborah Hopkinson, and Norma Mazer. It is obvious that her contact with this talented helps her writing immensely.

There are plenty of titles out there meant to help kids understand death. "Mick Harte Was Here" by Barbara Park is probably the best known, but there are always old classics like, "Bridge to Terebithia" by Katherine Patterson and hundreds of dead dog books as well. Even younger titles like the recent "Michael Rosen's Sad Book" can help children deal with loss of one kind or another. "Each Little Bird That Sings" doesn't deal with children dying. Just older relatives and a beloved family pet. And how Deborah Wiles managed to balance the sweet with the serious with the funny is beyond me. I just know that this is a remarkable little book. There are lots of tears and lots of laughs and some highly satisfying writing going on here. A wonderful title that deserves a lot more attention.

I liked this book because it deals with the subject of "death" in such an unusual way ... with a lot of facts and even some humor.

Little Comfort is the daughter of funeral home owners and is rather nonchalant about death, having seen it so often, but when it strikes close to home and she has to deal with it on a personal level she learns much more about life ... death ... and how the loved ones left behind must deal with it.

Comfort is a lovable, charming, caring girl who comes up with some unique remedies to ease the pain.

This is a heartfelt book ... one that teaches children about death in a sensitive way. At times it's even humorous ... which must have been quite a challenge for this talented author.

"Remember that death is a natural thing --- it's all around us...Don't try to hide death from kids... Kids are better at death than grown-ups give them credit for...."

From the 2004 PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship winner and author of LOVE, RUBY LAVENDER --- an ALA Notable Children's Book, a Children's Book Sense 76 Pick, a Parent's Guide Children's Media Award Winner, and a New York Public Library Book for Reading and Sharing --- comes a touching tearjerker for young readers about coming to terms with death and remembering to appreciate life in all its capacities. With a slicing candor that is at times hard to stomach yet crucial to the book's overall resonance, Deborah Wiles has penned a second novel that will hit readers through the heart.

Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger's family owns and runs the town funeral home in Snapfinger, Mississippi. In her short life, Comfort has attended 247 funerals and has taken part in everything from helping to bake the casseroles for the guests to writing her own version of the newspaper's obituary column, "Life Notices by Comfort Snowberger: Explorer, Recipe Tester, and Funeral Reporter." Along with her brother Tidings, her parents, her best friend Declaration, Great-uncle Edisto, Great-great-aunt Florentine, and her dog Dismay, Comfort does her utmost to keep everyone's spirits up under what are oftentimes the dourest of circumstances.

Life runs smoothly in the Snowberger household until the day when Great-uncle Edisto has a stroke and dies. A short while later, Great-great-aunt Florentine takes a tumble in the garden and dies as well, peacefully sprawled out amidst the lavender. With so much funeral preparation and mourning to do, the last thing Comfort expects is for Declaration to ignore her in order to befriend two "cooler" girls at school. To make matters worse, her eight-year-old cousin, Peach, is acting like a baby and receiving all the attention! At the end of it all, Comfort is left feeling confused, hurt, and worst of all, lonely.

Then, on the day of Great-great-aunt Florentine's funeral, when a massive storm rages and floodwaters sweep Dismay under the current and threaten to take Comfort and Peach's lives as well, the Snowbergers' somewhat nonchalant and comfortable relationship with death is shaken to its core. But, through straightforward discussions, patience and plenty of hugs to go around, they manage to slowly rebuild their lives by reaffirming their love for one another, their community, and their lives.

Deborah Wiles's second novel is a quiet yet immensely arresting read for young adults. From its honest and direct approach to death, to the author's cunning choice of characters' names (Comfort, Declaration, Tidings, Dismay), to the fact that the ending certainly made this grown reviewer cry, EACH LITTLE BIRD THAT SINGS is perfect for fostering parent-child conversations about what it means not only to deal with losing someone you love, but also to be thankful for what you have, while you have it --- "grief and fear and hope and love somehow woven together, somehow connected. All the messy glory."

   --- Reviewed by Alexis Burling

"I come from a family with a lot of dead people." That is a very true statement from the main character, Comfort Snowberger (or as she calls herself, an Explorer, a Recipe Taster, and a Funeral Reporter). Her family runs a funeral home, and she's had a lot of incidents happen lately. Her Uncle Edisto dies, and most recently, her Great-great-aunt Florentine suddenly wares out. The only thing that comfort can rely on is her shaggy black dog Dismay. Comfort is feeling very lonely and feels like she doesn't know what to do. Then everything seems to go even more downhill from there.
This realistic fiction book teaches the importance of love and friendship. It proves how close-knit a family can be. Deborah Wiles has written a previous book to this, Love Ruby Lavender, but it isn't a sequel or a prequel. I though this book was all right. It was a little too strange for my taste, but it was still pretty good.
Each Little Bird That Sings was an interesting book. I preferred Deborah's other book, Love Ruby Lavender. The book to me was a little too sad for me, but the love in the book was so powerful. This would be a good book for girls, ages 8 to 12, who enjoy a little sadness.

-Anna Hurdle

I am a mother who reads a lot of my daughter's books to enjoy together. My daughter, who can hardly bear to read anything sad, wrote the review Sad but good. In my opinion, this was the perfect sad book for her to read. Comfort deals with the death of her family members in such a forthright way, only to be thrown into a tailspin over what she has done by letting her dog go in the flood. The resolution of Comfort's sorrow and the forgiveness she finally allows herself to feel--these are just great themes for everyone--children and adults. I've been telling 5th grade teachers at my child's school to get a copy of this book for their read-aloud time and hope to feature this book in our Mother-Daughter Book Club. I hope this book is awarded duly for its contribution to literature.

But it was still good. I think its more for teens then younger kids.

Within the first few pages of this book the reader can find the rest of the words of the song that is referenced in the title. I had learned the song in my junior high choir, but while we sang of the Lord God Loving them all (in public school, no less!), Wiles either knows a different version or chose to edit her book-version to keep things from getting to Jesus-y. Either way, what a relief. The last thing I want to see in the first few pages of a book is a pro-God message - that's a pretty good indication that the book is going to suck.
Well, this book far from sucks. In fact, it's the best book I've read in quite a while. I may be saying this because it deals with death and dying, some subjects that have been far too thematic for me this past year, but consider this: I've also been reading a lot on death and dying lately, trying to deal with it all. Some highly recommended by friends, all of them meant for adults. This book, meant for children, is the first one to get it right. It's the first one that has made me cry, and I mean really cry, with a huge pile of kleenex growing at the foot of my couch and a pounding headache afterward.
It's hard for me to say what makes Wiles's book so successful, as I think it succeeds on so many levels. Perhaps what I like the most is that she never once writes as if children are less smart versions of adults. Of course, any writer for children will tell you how they think the world of children and would never think of writing down to them, but the fact is quite a few of them do. Not Wiles. I had cringed at first at the cutesy-ness of some of her characters' names, but she turns Comfort Snowberger into a real person, with ego and insecurities, conflicting emotions . . . the whole "messy" package.
Another lovely thing about Wiles book is her way with dialogue. I love dialogue, and will sometimes find myself skimming through the description and narrations of a book to get to some. This was unnecessary with Each Little Bird, as it is filled to the brim, but not over, with beautifully crafted conversations that both entertain and inform. Wiles is able to build her characters through what they say and how they say it, and trusts the reader to interpret on their own.
This is one of the most wonderful things about Wiles work, and a mark of a truly good kid's book. Any book, in fact. An author, having figured something out about their character, is tempted to declare it on paper. If they can keep from doing so, the reader will draw their own conclusions from the facts at hand, thus drawing them into the story and making them a part of the events at hand. Wiles is a master at showing just enough, and never telling.
Another wonderful thing about the dialogue is that while it is undeniably Southern, it is not overdone. The characters do say things like pic-a-nic, but you will never find them saying things like y'all, and thank goodness Wiles does not try to write their accent into the text, a horrible thing that far too many writers do. It is her careful balance of language and action along with a good sense of timing, which keep the story feeling real and alive.
In the end, that is the best thing about Wiles's book - it just feels real. She has written honestly and plainly about a subject too often dressed up and disguised to make us feel better, or feel less. This is not to say Each Little Bird is a depressing read. Wiles is wise to take care of her main character, and has given her enough support so that in the end she may have suffered, but one gets the sense that not only will she be okay, she has grown and will be better off for it.
I can't wait to read the rest of Wiles's stuff. If anyone I know is reading this, that's what I would like for Christmas.

Each Little Bird That Sings is written by Deborah Wiles and is a fictional book. It takes place at Snowbergers, the family owned funeral home. Comfort lives at Snowbergers and is dreading the upcoming funeral where her whiny cousin Peach will be. That's not the only thing that Comfort is having a hard time with. Her best friend, Declaration, is acting different then normal. The only thing she can rely on is her beloved dog, Dismay.

I thought the part of the book where Declaration tells Comfort that it is not ladylike to climb Listening rock, their favorite place, it was unexpected and showed how quickly she had grown up after being with her grandma. Another part I liked was when Comforts aunt died and how the author described the scene it was kind of funny.

I liked this book and would definitely recommend it for others. The ending could've been improved. But I would surely put it on my bookshelf of favorite books. I thought that the author was very descriptive and did a really good job of writing this story.

even though it was really sad the writing was fabulous (a quote from my 7 year old son). we read this aloud and really loved it. Worth keeping on your shelf and passing on!

This book is full of humor, grace and love. Comfort Snowberger writes her own obituaries and tries to have them published in the local paper. She also has a list of "Top Ten Tips for First-rate Funeral Behavior" that, while hilarious, contains sound advice.

Death is a hard subject for adults and almost impossible for children to deal with. Comfort comes from a family that deals with it on a daily basis. The ten-year-old's family runs a funeral home, and she and her dog, Dismay, do their part to console the bereaved. But when death strikes the family, not once, but twice within a year, Comfort has to learn to deal with it on a personal level.

First is great Uncle Edisto, who has taught Comfort much about life and how it relates to dying. When great-great Aunt Florentine passes, it is almost more than Comfort can process in her young mind. She tries to do what she has learned from her family: the job of the survivor is to go on living.

This could be easier if her best friend, Declaration hadn't decided that now is the time to find other friends, friends who seem to exclude Comfort.

Comfort loves her family, her friends and her dog. She tries so hard to do what is right. Knowing that forgiveness is the right thing to do doesn't make it come easily, though, even when she needs forgiving as well. Little girls have their own way of dealing with life.

I loved this book. Wishing I had read it as a child, I intend to donate this one to the local library.

Armchair Interviews says: each little bird that sings is sweet, smart and truthful. Some books stay with you and make changes in the way you see things. This book is one of those. FYI: Book cover says it is a "coming of age" novel for ages 8 to 12.