My Grandfather's House - Hardcover

Coville, Bruce

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0816738041 ISBN 13: 9780816738045

Publisher: Bridgewater Books, 1996

Synopsis

A young boy's experience of his grandfather's death is told in a touching narrative as the boy tries to come to terms with the loss through questions, memories, and reflections of the times they once had shared.

About this title

Review:

"Where did Grandpa go when he died?" is the question that troubles the main character of My Grandfather's House as he views his recently deceased grandfather's body at the funeral home. The answers range from the faintly reassuring "to another place" offered by his mother to the faintly disturbing "to the graveyard" suggested by a friend. But if the book doesn't provide a conclusive answer, it does offer youngsters a safe starting point from which to consider the whole troubling notion of death, and what happens after we die.

From School Library Journal:

PreSchool-Grade 3?A young boy is understandably upset about the death of his beloved grandfather. As he searches for answers about it, neither his father nor his mother offers support or comfort. They withdraw to deal with their own grief, leaving him with his questions and responsibility for his baby sibling. Later, they take him to the funeral home for an open-casket viewing without any explanation. The lack of parental involvement here is disturbing. In addition, one has to wonder how a parent could make a young child touch a body without preparing him first. Sorensen's painterly illustrations reinforce the mood of the text. The artist, too, fails to reveal emotional connections. No comforting hugs are offered; no happy memories are shared. Even those pictures that show grandfather and grandson enjoying life together often have a static quality that belies a loving relationship. In a final revelation, the boy realizes that his grandfather's body is no longer his grandfather. This seems a rather miraculous leap for a child so young, and the leap becomes all the more unbelievable as he relates this new understanding to his own life. Libraries will be better served by Judith Viorst's The Tenth Good Thing about Barney (Atheneum, 1971), Aliki's The Two of Them (Greenwillow, 1979), Anna Grosnickle Hines's Remember the Butterflies (Dutton, 1991), and Jo Carson's You Hold Me and I'll Hold You (Orchard, 1992).?Jeanne Clancy Watkins, Upper Merion Township Library, King of Prussia, PA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bridgewater Books
• Publication date: 1996
• ISBN 10: 0816738041
• ISBN 13: 9780816738045
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Sorensen Henri