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Summary
Summary
From #1 New York Times bestseller Oliver Jeffers, comes a poignant and beautiful story about finding joy after loss.
There is a wonder and magic to childhood. We don't realize it at the time, of course . . . yet the adults in our lives do. They encourage us to see things in the stars, to find joy in colors and laughter as we play.
But what happens when that special someone who encourages such wonder and magic is no longer around? We can hide, we can place our heart in a bottle and grow up . . . or we can find another special someone who understands the magic. And we can encourage them to see things in the stars, find joy among colors and laughter as they play.
Oliver Jeffers delivers a remarkable book, a touching and resonant tale reminiscent of The Giving Tree that will speak to the hearts of children and parents alike.
Author Notes
Oliver Jeffers was born in Port Hedland, Western Australia in 1977. He grew up in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He received a First Class Honors Degree in illustration and visual communication and certificate of foundation studies from the University of Ulster, School of Art and Design in 2001. His work has been exhibited in multiple cities, including the National Portrait Gallery in London, the Brooklyn Museum, and Gestalten Space in Berlin.
He writes and illustrates picture books. His debut book, How to Catch a Star, was published in 2004 and won a Merit Award at the CBI/Bisto Book of Year Awards. His second book, Lost and Found, won the Gold Award at Nestle Children's Book Prize and was developed into an animated short film, which has received over sixty awards including a BAFTA for Best Animated Short Film. His other books include The Incredible Book Eating Boy, The Great Paper Caper, Up and Down, Stuck, This Moose Belongs to Me, Once upon an Alphabet: Short Stories for All Letters, The Hueys series and A Child of Books. He has won numerous awards including the Smarties Award, Irish Book of the Year, The Blue Peter Book of the Year, and the 2017 Academy of British Cover Design Award in the Children's category.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-5-A short, bittersweet story about a little girl "whose head was filled with all the curiosities of the world." In the accompanying picture, she tells her kind, attentive father about all the wonderful images in her head. But one day, she runs to show him a drawing and finds only his empty chair. To ease her loneliness and grief, she puts her heart in a bottle and hangs it around her neck. Eventually, she learns that this is ultimately no solution at all. By then, she's grown older, and it takes another little girl, much like the child she used to be, to help her find a way out. The whimsical illustrations appear to be paint and pencil, with a touch of collage. The people are depicted very simply, and the natural landscapes are sweeping, with colors that reinforce the subtly shifting moods. Aimed at an older audience than one would think at first glance, this allegory about grief and the futility of attempts at self-protection will resonate most with those who've suffered a loss. An unusual, original book.-Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
When a small girl loses her father, her only parent (Jeffers represents the loss with the father's empty chair in a moonlit room), she decides "the best thing" is to put her heart in a bottle and hang it around her neck. All the bubbly curiosity that had made her sparkle disappears, "but at least her heart was safe." Not until the girl, now considerably older, meets "someone smaller and still curious about the world" is her heart restored to her. Jeffers's (The Great Paper Caper) artwork is the sweetness in this bittersweet story. Conversations between the girl and her father appear as balloons with images in them instead of words; his answers to her enthusiastic "questions" about the world are expressed in scientific prints and diagrams. In the final spread, as she sits reading in her father's chair, a thought balloon exploding with childlike and cerebral images alike makes it clear that she is once again at peace. While the subject of loss always has the potential to unsettle young readers, most should find this quietly powerful treatment of grief moving. Ages 4-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
In this overly allegorical story, a girl and the unidentified man (father? grandfather?) she lives with share a love of astronomy, oceanography, and life science. When the man (presumably) dies, the girl puts her heart in a jar for safekeeping and abandons her studies. Finally, she meets "someone smaller and still curious" with the power to release her heart. Jeffers's fanciful mixed-media illustrations provide a lift to the heavy text. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
"Once there was a girl, much like any other," curious and full of wonder; able to explore and discover because the man was there. Expansive environments illuminate the deep and abiding bond between child and elder. Thenan empty chair, a darkened room, a waiting child. Grief-stricken, the girl places her heart in a bottle for safekeeping, but "in truth, nothing was the same," and so it remains into adulthood until someone "smaller and still curious about the world" finds the key to unlock her heart. Emotions, thoughts and memories pour forth, and the chair is empty no longer. The author beautifully weaves themes of love, loss and healing into a stirring story. Tender illustrations, dense with detail when the protagonist's imagination is thriving and sparse when her heart is disembodied, deftly delineate the character's emotional state. The sophisticated palette creates a consistency across the pages, and the artwork, meticulously constructed and edited with a uniquely minimalist aesthetic, is signature Jeffers. Heartbreaking, witty and filled with hope, this will perhaps rings most true with children whose parents have recently suffered a loss. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
A little girl delights in the boundless discoveries of the world around her with an older gentleman, likely her grandfather. But then the man's chair is empty, and the girl puts her heart in a bottle to help with the hurt. As she grows older, she loses her sense of wonderment, and it isn't until she meets another young girl that she finds a way to free her heart again. This book showcases some absolutely captivating artwork. The way in which Jeffers employs pictures in word balloons to convey the limberness of imagination is brilliant: the man points to the sky to talk about constellations, while the girl sees stars as inflamed bumblebees. But what begins promisingly runs into trouble, and it's not clear who the message is directed toward: children just opening their eyes to the world, or parents who have lost their sense of curiosity? Even if children don't glean much from the abstractions and subtleties of the narrative, they're nevertheless in for a treat with the unforgettable visuals of imagination at play.--Chipman, Ian Copyright 2010 Booklist