The Sour Cherry Tree - Hardcover

Hrab, Naseem

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1771474149 ISBN 13: 9781771474146

Publisher: Owlkids, 2021

Synopsis

A heartwarming look at love, loss, and memorable objects through the eyes of a child by critically-acclaimed creators Naseem Hrab and Nahid Kazemi

"Deeply evocative ... A beautifully poignant celebration of memories of a loved one that live on in those that remain." ― Kirkus Reviews – STARRED REVIEW

After her grandfather’s death, a young girl wanders through his house. As she tours each room, the objects she discovers stir memories of her grandfather―her baba bozorg. His closet full of clothes reminds her of the mints he kept in his pockets. His favorite teacup conjures thoughts of the fig cookies he would offer her. The curtains in the living room bring up memories of hide-and-seek games and the special relationship that she and her baba bozorg shared, even though they spoke different languages.

The Sour Cherry Tree is an authentic look at death and loss centred on the experiences of a child, both strikingly whimsical and matter-of-fact. Drawing on the Iranian-Canadian author’s childhood memories, this tender meditation on grief, love, and memory is at once culturally specific and universally relatable.

About this title

About the Authors

NASEEM HRAB is a writer and storyteller, and the author of the Ira Crumb series and Weekend Dad. Her comedy writing has appeared on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency and The Rumpus. Naseem worked as a librarian for a time and now works in children’s publishing. She lives in Toronto, Ontario.

NAHID KAZEMI is an illustrator and multidisciplinary artist who has published more than 65 children’s books. She won the 2022 Governor General’s Literary Awards in Canada and has been nominated for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. She was IBBY Canada’s Joanne Fitzgerald Illustrator in Residence for 2018 and TD Summer Reading Club illustrator for 2022. She lives in Montréal, Quebec.

Reviews

PreS-Gr 1-This book on grief and the passing of a grandparent perfectly encapsulates a child's perspective. The death of Baba Bozorg happened the day before, and now a small girl and her mother go to his house to "take care of a few things." The bed where the child often found him napping is empty, but rumpled, as if he has just left it for a moment. His tea cup is by the samovar, where he enjoyed Ceylon with a splash of rose water and a fig cookie. He always offered a cookie to the narrator; she never liked figs, but took the offering anyway. He didn't speak much English; she spoke little Farsi. But they communicated in other ways, sharing a wink or a smile. She slips into his closet to remember. From there, she spies the sour cherry tree in his front yard, which he planted when the girl's mother was her own age. "Whenever we left Baba Bozorg's house, he would wave at us until I couldn't see him anymore." That's the last line of the book, as wistful as the casual mention that Baba Bozorg was a published poet in Iran, with an illustration of him in a book of his writings. Kazemi's soft pictures have a diffused quality; this is the past, this is the present, it doesn't matter. VERDICT This book gives voice to the hidden aspects of grief, the small token, the remembered word or gesture that defines memories. It's an essential guide to mourning, in its earliest stages, for the young.-Kimberly Olson Fakih, School Library Journalα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Owlkids
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1771474149
• ISBN 13: 9781771474146
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Kazemi Nahid
• Number of pages: 32