I lost my childhood dog recently and it's been an incredibly difficult thing to process. Although we understand death as a concept, it doesn't feel real until you experience the loss of someone who meant so much to you. I think this book did an excellent job of portraying that initial state of confusion or denial, and the sense that time stretches beyond what feels natural. Overall, it holds a very calm and friendly introduction to the experience of grief.

Netgalley ARC - 4.5 stars. This is a gentle and exploratory picture book that introduces concepts of grief and death without being too overwhelming and while still finding hope.

Squirrel and best friend, Pock go searching for blackbird and have to confront a sensitive topic after realizing blackbird isn’t sleeping. The anthropomorphized animals and mushroom create a lighter and friendly atmosphere for delivering a potentially heavy topic. The story lightly touches on grief and what actions are appropriate for their situation. Ultimately, we are then left with the idea that we can memorialize the deceased and that the world keeps spinning. This book could be thought provoking for a child already familiar with grief and death, but might be too blunt as an introduction to the topic.

As an adult, I can’t resist digging deeper into the imagery. This text was translated from French and the story felt very French. The illustrations of the characters being bug-eyed may go unnoticed to a child, but made me feel like they were in a constant state of existential dread. The setting being fall and leaves changing colors/dying because the trees are going dormant/sleeping, feels reflective of the story’s themes of sleep and death. Overall, I enjoyed this and appreciate there being so many layers present in this children’s story.

Review will be posted to GoodReads on 08/05/2025.