Margaret Wise Brown addresses the topic of death straightforwardly, as four children and a dog find a dead bird in the park, bury it, have a funeral, and return to the grave to leave flowers "every day, until they forgot." Christian Robinson's illustrations showcase the deep greens of the park and forest; the bird is only shown up close once, cupped in a pair of brown hands, and appears to be peaceful, with eyes closed and feet up. The children's expressions range from happy to solemn, sad to surprised.

"The children were very sorry the bird was dead and could never fly again. But they were glad they had found it, because now they could dig a grave in the woods and bury it. They could have a funeral and sing to it the way grown-up people did when someone died." ( )

I thought this book taught kids about death and funerals so well. Ioved the illustrations with bright forests and nature throughout. ( )

Another beautiful book by Margaret Wise Brown. There are earlier illustrated editions, but I was able to read the pictured version with illustrations by Christian Robinson. Initially it was Robinson's beautiful, vibrant, and engaging illustrations that called to me from a busy library shelf. Bright colors and a diverse collection of children depict the bittersweet tale of a bird's passing.

While playing in an urban park, children come upon a recently dead bird. Some may find the honest descriptions of the bird disturbing, "That was the way animals got when they had been dead for some time -- cold dead and stone still with no heart beating." I would hesitate to introduce this book unless there had been some discussion beforehand of death and what that means. To me there is beauty in the way the children enact the ritual of grieving and honoring the life of the bird.

They take great care to prepare a resting place, sing to the bird, and then perhaps most beautifully of all, go back to their play, returning only until they forget. What a wonderful quality, the ability to lose themselves in the play and imitation of a natural part of life. As time moves, the children simply forget to return. In some ways I think they would make for a lovely wordless book or an illustration read. ( )

This is a great book to show children a way of dealing with death. In the story, some children find a bird that is dead in the park when they realize they must properly bury it like adults do. The children then sing a song and host a funeral for the bird. It is so heartwarming to see children respect the dead just as adults would. It is tough to deal with an event so tragic as death however, the children deal with it in the way that they were taught. Children reading this book can also learn from this book by seeing what these children did and one day do the same if they are to be in the same situation. ( )

children find a dead bird sing to it, and bury it. Ages: 3-5. Source: Pierce college fort steilacoom library early childhood shelves.