Finding books that discuss death in a delicate way for children can be difficult, but this book explains it in a way that helps kids to understand without being fearful. I've used this explanation in several situations with my students, and it has helped each one to still recognize the love and memories that surround them despite their loved one being gone.

This wonderfully heartfelt kids book pulled at my heartstrings and really drew me in. I really liked this and it was a great book about relationships with grandparents.

I received an electronic ARC from Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC through NetGalley.
Touching story about the love between a grandfather and grandson. Told from the boy's point of view as he realizes that his grandpa is getting old. They have wonderful adventures together and plant many memories. His grandpa talks about death and shares about his own father's death when he was a child. He shares that he will always be with him if he looks with his heart.
Aspinwall creates a beautiful analogy of grandpa being the water that surrounds them on their fishing trips. The concept is a lovely way to explain death and keeping memories alive.

As an elementary school librarian, I am always on the lookout for a strong picture book that deals with death and grief. This story about the bond between a boy and his grandfather, his favorite fishing buddy, will certainly find a place on my library shelf. The book deftly portrays the feelings of the boy as he begins to see the aging process take its toll on his grandfather and will be comforting for both children and adults.

I'll Be The Water is an incredibly touching story about the death of a grandfather. It is sweet, sad, emotional, and hopeful, and it has a lovely message for any children experiencing this loss (or for children who haven't experienced this loss yet). Alec Aspinwall has written a lovely story, and Nicole Wong's illustrations are gorgeous and just as gentle as the narrative. Recommended.

Helping with Loss and Grief

This is a sweet book about a grandfather's love and preparing his grandson for his death. In the early parts of the book, we learn how much the grandson loves his grandfather and all that they do together. The little boy notices that his grandfather does not seem to be as well as he used to, and Grandpa does go into the hospital. When he gets out, he and the grandson have a heart-to-heart on a fishing trip. Grandpa shares that he isn't afraid of dying. His grandson won't be able to see him with his eyes after he passes but will be able to see him with his heart. Grandpa states that the lake they fish in is like his love for him. When the grandfather does die, the grandson is very sad but remembers what his grandfather told him. Final pages show the grandson as a grown man taking his daughter out to fish, teaching her the lessons his grandfather taught him. This book would be perfect if your child is soon to face the loss of a grandparent or has recently done so. It provides a fresh perspective on death and our connections to loved ones who have gone before us. It does so gently and with a loving spirit that I think a child could connect with and understand at a deep level—even if they could not verbalize its impact. Highly recommended.

Picture books about loss and death are rarely very good, but this one is excellent. The author does not include any treacly sentimentality, but focuses on the lasting bond that a boy and his grandfather experience. This book shows the progression of aging, disease, and death in a simple way that a child can handle, and sends the message that the people you love will always be in your memory and your heart, even when they are not physically present with you.

I especially appreciate the last page, which shows the boy as an adult, fishing with his own daughter in the same way that his grandfather used to fish with him. It's a meaningful nod to the progression of the generations, and to how we shape others based on our backgrounds and experiences with the people we have loved. The author does not convey any particular worldview beliefs about death or the afterlife, but simply shares a reassuring message about how we can remember and hold onto our good memories.

**I received and voluntarily read an e-ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Absolutely beautiful illustrations. The warm colors in the scene with the grandfather really help the book to feel like you're being wrapped in a warm hug.

Overall, this is easily the best children's book I've read that really touches on grief in a way that's approachable and gentle for even the youngest of readers.

I have a tough time with picture books about death because I am a crier by nature (I could cry reciting a well written shopping list) and I've dealt with so many deaths of family and friends that tears are pretty much already bubbling at the surface any given minute. Most picture books about death are also kind of horribly done, so I didn't even request an ARC of this book when I saw it on Net Galley until a Goodreads friend recommended it. I'm glad I did, even though there's no way I'll be able to read it to my children without a box of tissues and waterproof mascara, especially since we are currently losing their wonderful grandmother to Alzheimer's and cancer, making this book both especially timely and especially hard to read.

If you have to read a book about death to children (and really, we all should -- books help with pretty much everything), this is one of the best I've seen. It's beautifully illustrated, sweetly told, not too wordy, and full of love. It does not go into belief systems like heaven or reincarnation, just the idea that the loved one will be a part of everything around the child. I especially appreciated the multi-generational ending of the story, where the boy whose grandfather told him "I'll be the water" (all around you instead of the fish alongside you) becomes the father with his daughter in the boat. You do get a sense that the grandfather is now a part of their life, even for the little girl who never met him, and continues to surround them.

This really is the sort of book every home and library should have, because it gently comforts and prepares children for those goodbyes we can't protect them from. Highly recommended. And I'm crying again....

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

It's a wonderful premise but the words "I'll be the water" are never used in the text itself. I get the idea, that loved ones are with us always, and that was portrayed in so many words, but the poignancy of the title was lost when it wasn't used in the text. That would have been the tear-jerking moment and it didn't happen. Disappointing.

I was very close to my grandfather and now my children are creating that same type of relationship with my father. They liked this book, especially my oldest who is interested in fishing. It was a sweet book and I highly recommend for those who may be coping with the loss of a grandparent. The illustrations were done very well. A nice easy read.

I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. There are so few good picture books about death, but this one is really great and made me tear up a bit.

This was a sweet book. I think it would be good to give to children who are grieving, especially those who are grieving the death of a grandparent.

A wonderful picture book that explains death better than I have seen in a long time.

A boy and his grandfather are fishing, and the boy worries about losing his grandfather to death. His grandfather explains it is like the fish and the water. When he is alive, he is a fish swimming beside him, but when he is gone, he is the water that he is swimming in.

He said his love would remain with him, long after he died.

So touching, and so sad, but so true.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

This is a beautiful children's book. There is good artwork in this book and a lot to think about for kids and adults.

A sweet story about how a Grandpa will always be with his grandson, even after death. Beautiful illustrations. Kids will be able to relate to the activities the boy and his grandfather do together such as fishing and eating ice creams.

I requested and received this book from Alec Aspinwall and Penguin Random House Canada through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I am not crying, you are crying! Wow! This book is an amazing story of the love between a grandfather and a grandchild and how that love does not end when the grandparent passes. This would make an amazing gift for anyone that is losing or has lost a grandparent to remind them that their grandparents love will always be with them.

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This is such a beautifully shared story, a gentle way of sharing with young readers the belief that love lives on even when life is gone. A story of a grandchild asking his grandfather if he’s getting old, and later on, when he has to go to the hospital, worries about his grandfather dying. His grandfather is his fishing buddy, and one day when they’re out on the lake fishing, he tells him that when he does die, that he will still be with him, even if he is no longer physically there, that ”My love will be like the water in the lake. You might think I’m not with you, but we’ll be closer than ever because you’ll be surrounded by my love.” Years later, when he has a child of his own, and takes his own daughter fishing, he passes on this wisdom shared by his grandfather. ”Each memory is like a special gift I can unwrap again and again.”

This story tackles this complex topic to discuss with young readers, and offers a reassuring and loving outlook of love living on from generation to generation.


Pub Date: 16 Sep 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Myrick Marketing & Media, LLC / Tilbury House Publishers

#IllBetheWater #NetGalley

As a mama and an educator, I love picture books. I'll Be The Water by Alec Aspinwall is a beautiful, gentle examination of loss and love.

A young boy shares a close relationship with his grandfather, but he suddenly realizes his grandfather is getting old. On their final fishing trip, his grandfather explains that memories are like gifts we can unwrap over and over once our loved ones are gone, and that even in death, the love they shared will still be there. The book ends as the boy grows up and passes these lessons along to his daughter.

The illustrations by Nicole Wong are a calming and comforting accompaniment to the story. Death is a natural part of life, but for kids, it can feel scary or overwhelming. Stories like this one make having those conversations a little easier by making the subject more accessible to young readers.