Michael Rosen's Sad Book by Michael Rosen & Illus by Quentin Blake

I don't know about you, but this whole coronavirus thing has me feeling a bit out of sorts. I love being home and I love my family, so I didn't think I would mind staying home all the time. But apparently it isn't as easy as all that. There is a difference between doing something because you want to and doing something because you have to. And then, there is the matter of routine--turns out they are handy things to keep around. 

Emotions. They can be sort of messy and unexpected right now. So this seems like an appropriate book for the moment. 

Of course, this book is much more deep than the sadness of "everything has changed and I am not used to it!" 

Michael Rosen lost his son.

And if you think that is a terrible beginning for a kids book, you are right. But kids are much closer to big emotions than adults who have worked hard to bring emotions under control. Their upset/sorrow over things is so much bigger than adults. 

They get it. 

This is Michael Rosen. As you can read, this is him being sad, but pretending to be happy so people won't dislike him for being sad. 

Sometimes sad is very big. It's everywhere. All over me. 

Eddie, his son. Who he is sometimes angry at for dying. 

Eddie doesn't say anything because he's not here anymore. 

I just want to think about it on my own.

Because it's mine. And no one else's.

The unexpected attacks of sad.

Ways he has found to cope with his sadness. 

Then he discusses other people's grief. 

Memories of Eddie

Sad will always be there. 

But there are times when it is not right in front of you--times when you can laugh and have good days. 

And other days when sad seems everywhere. 

I was sort of surprised by this book--such an honest look at grief for a kids book. People tend to paper over the lumps and uncertainties of sorrow for kids, but I think kids can accept things more readily than adults sometimes. This book will definitely prompt some questions and concerns, but those conversations need to happen at some point. Just be forewarned--don't read this book if you don't have time for questions right then. 

I hope your day/week is not as sad as this. I hope there are lovely moments and sunlight and calm. 

Stay healthy! 

The Rough Patch by Brian Lies

As soon as I saw this book, I knew I would love it. I have an unreasonable delight in personified foxes. Plus, it vaguely reminded me of the Fern Hollow Books I read as a kid. Nostalgia. It is pretty hard to beat. 

Evan and his dog.

This won a Caldecott Honor this week. 

They were the best of friends

Doing everything together. 

But especially gardening. 

Evan and his dog spent a great deal of time in the garden.

And then.... the unthinkable happened. His dog died.

For days, Evan did nothing. Then, he destroyed his garden--that reminder of his dog and indicator of life moving on when Evan's world had ground to a halt. 

Weeds grew. And Evan took care of them because these weeds reflected his feelings better than pretty, tidy plants. 

Soon his garden was a desolate, soulless place, just how he wanted it. 

But when a green vine sneaks in, Evan decides to let it stay.

 See the hoe about to chop it out? Love that detail. 

That vine turns into a pumpkin....

...that turns into a trip to the fair. 

When his pumpkin places third, he has the choose of $10 or a puppy. He takes the $10 of course. 

But.....

....somehow, the puppy heads home with him anyway. 

A story of hope and love. Of death and life going on. 

AND of the importance of gardening in living a happy life and healing. 

Gardens and dogs are important. 

Red vintage pickups don't hurt either.

The Gardener by Sarah Stewart & illus by David Small

This book was a Caldecott Honor book in 1998 because it has amazing pictures. Did you know Sarah Stewart and David Small are married? Well they are. They have collaborated on a number of books, all of which are fantastic. The Gardener is a favorite of mine simply because it would be impossible to not love this sweet, plucky little gardener doing her best to make the world, her world, more beautiful.

Gardening with Grandma

This book is a collection of letter from Lydia Grace Finch. first to her Uncle Jim who she was going to live with due to the depression and her family's lack of money, and later in the book, when she was living with Uncle Jim, back to her family.

Sending her off to Uncle Jim in the city. What a terrible time the Depression was.

She had packed some of her favorite seeds though, so she was assured of having a few of her good friends near her, even if there was no one she knew at Uncle Jim's.

The cavernous city train station. 

When she gets to Uncle Jim's, in true gardener fashion, she looks at the potential for flowers. Window boxes!!

She also notices that Uncle Jim doesn't smile.

Lydia learns to work in Uncle Jim's bakery, under the tutelage of  Ed and Emma Beech, Uncle Jim's friends who work in the bakery. 

One day, she decides to go up the fire escape and finds a secret place of her very own to beautify.

Her grandmother sends her seedlings, making Emma Beech laugh.

Lydia and Emma have the window boxes looking marvelous. Neighbors bring containers for Lydia to plant for them. She is now known as The Gardener.

Finally it is time to show Uncle  Jim the secret place that she has been working so hard on.

Since it was the fourth of July, they greet him with sparklers. 

A week later, Uncle Jim closes the shop early and invites everyone up to the rooftop garden Lydia made. He brings a fancy cake and a letter from Lydia's parents that she can come home. 

And then there are goodbyes. Lydia leaves her plants in Emma's care. And hurries home.

Home, where her and Grandma can get back to their gardening.

Dandelions by Eve Bunting & illustrated by Greg Shed

Eve Bunting is an amazingly prolific writer. Her writing is enjoyable, but it doesn't often move or excite me. This book changed that. Reading it before deciding if it should go in the donation pile, I got weepy. I decided it deserved a spot on our overcrowded shelves. 

Dandelions (I totally got this book because I liked the title--I love dandelions.) is about a family settling on the plains of Nebraska. The nearest neighbor is three hours away and Zoe's mother is expecting another baby and not at all sure about leaving their life in the east to move to an empty land. 

The pictures are gorgeously evocative of the rolling plains.

Clearly this Bolton family is moving because Papa decided they should move. When I think of pioneer women, I often think of hardy, adventurous, fearless women. This book paints a somewhat different picture. In that day, and in that time, men made plans. Men sometimes discussed the plans with their wives, but it was generally expected that the wife would say "You'll do what is best for us." 

Probably a good number of the women of the west were there against their wishes. But they made the best of it. They did what needed to be done and they (most often) flourished. Emma, Zoe's mother is still adjusting to the plains. She isn't complaining, but you can sense her hesitancy and longing for the east. This wide empty land frightens her. 

On the other hand, her husband feels completely right about what he is doing. God is mentioned several times, lending a sense of Manifest Destiny to Papa's actions. He is moving west and God is leading him. How could he doubt himself?

But he is so excited and thrilled with it all, you like him. He also is gentle with his wife, so he isn't totally heartless. 

They drive three hours to see their closest neighbors.

Mama and Mrs. Svenson met and hugged and cried. 

"Does Mama know her already?" I whispered to Papa.

"No. But they are happy to see each other. It has been a long time since either of them has seen another woman." He sounded sad, but Papa is never sad for long. "It will be different soon. Other settlers will come."

The Svenson's soddie

Papa had taught Zoe and Becca the stars and told them they were the same stars they saw from their window at Grandma and Grandpa's back in Illinois. The girls name the stars for the Svenson boys, who are are unimpressed. Only people and animals have names, they said.

Heading back to the homestead after their visit.

With a plow borrowed from Mr. Svenson, they plant crops before building their soddie. One night Zoe overhears her father talking to her mother--

"Don't you see? I could never have made a life for us in Illinois. It will be good here." It was as if he was pleading with her, and I felt sorry for him though I wasn't sure why.

He does care about his wife.

The finished soddie--

Mares- tail clouds waved in the sky and the grass sang around us.

I'd never seen Papa so happy or Mama so sad. 

Mama thought the soddie disappeared like a prarie dog burrow as soon as you moved away from it. She constantly worried that the girls or her husband would get lost in the vast prairie. 

Mama would stand for hours looking at the curve where the grass and sky met. "Always nothing." she'd say. "Always the sameness." 

I was glad when she spoke, even to herself. It was her silences that scared me. Sometimes I felt she'd gone away and I couldn't find her.

As summer came to an end and Mama's birthday approached, their supplies ran low. Since Mama was very pregnant, Papa drops her and Becca (the younger sister) off at the Svensons. 

Zoe and Papa set off for town. Mama hurries after them to ask if he is sure he can find his way back to her. I'll mark our path with breadcrumbs he tells her.

Papa worries a little out loud about Emma-I pray God I have done right by her.

He tells Zoe that there is a little extra money and they will look for a present for her.

In town they stock up and get a bottle of lilac scent to make Mama think of the lilacs back east. Zoe hopes it will make her happy and not sadder.

As they are leaving town, Zoe spies a clump of dandelions and decides they must be her present to her mother. If the dandelions could cover the roof of their soddie, Mama wouldn't be so afraid of getting lost because their roof would stand out like yellow sunshine for miles around.

Okay, I love this whole part. They dig up the dandelions and tenderly care for them while they are carting them home to transplant. Maybe Zoe is responsible for all the dandelions all of Nebraska is pulling of their lawns now. 

Papa puts the dandelions on the roof after dark. In the early dawn, Becca and Zoe creep up to the roof to plant them.  

Mama thinks an animal is on the roof and comes out to see what is happening. The Dandelions are limp and unimpressive looking much to Zoe's disappointment. Papa consoles her--"They'll cover the roof and they'll shout: 'This is home!' But their roots have to take hold first. It isn't easy being transplanted."

Maybe they'll never bloom," Mama said. "Maybe they'll just die of loneliness." Then she squeezed my hand. "Oh Zoe! I didn't mean... You were such a dear girl to think--"

I interruppted."They'll bloom, Mama. They're strong, like us." I was almost crying and I didn't know why. 

Mama and Papa were looking at each other. This was about more than dandelions.

Mama gave a shaky sigh.

Mama pulled me close. "Don't expect a miracle Zoe. It will take time."  

I love Zoe thinking she can fix her lonesome, worried mother with a dandelion plant. The childish desire to help in some way and the practical approach--if Mama is scared of getting lost, we will make her a landmark. Mama's worry of getting lost is about a lot more than just needing a landmark, but I love how she responds to what Zoe had done for her. It wasn't just a dandelion. It was all Zoe's worry and concern and love for her mother. Zoe doing what she could even though it was inadequate. And because of Zoe's efforts her mother was touched in a way that brought a little hope to their lives. Maybe Mama could take root and bloom in this place. 

Because she is strong--like a dandelion. She just needed to be reminded of her strength.

So here is to all the amazing women and mothers who settled the west. Who settled the west in fear and trembling, but learned to bloom in their wide, lonesome spaces.