"The Heart and the Bottle"

Today's featured book is: 

Jeffers, O. (2010). The heart and the bottle. Philomel Books: New York, NY.

Randie's Review:

A young girl loves life. She is curious, adventurous and inspired.  The girl’s grandfather reads to her and accompanies her places. One day, grandfather's chair is empty--he is gone. The girl decides to place her heart in a bottle (potentially to shield herself from the grief, hurt, and sadness of loss). The girl wears this bottle around her neck and without her heart inside of her she begins to live life without feeling anything at all...until she meets a young girl (much like her old self) that helps her coax the heart out of the bottle.

The illustrations, color choices, structure, text...(well, everything about the book) is beautiful and addresses grief in a round-about way that allows for readers to discuss grief in a manner that is comfortable and beneficial for them.

Personal Response:
Beautiful! Not many picture books can bring me to tears but Jeffers did so in an elegant, touching way. The Heart and the Bottle is an amazing book to help children cope with a loss of a loved one. Oliver Jeffers is definitely an author to follow. 


Photo credit: http://www.goodreads.com/book/photo/7096916-the-heart-and-the-bottle