Comfort Snowberger is a young girl whose family life is different than most young kids. Her favorite hobby is writing obituaries, or as she calls them "life notices." She is surrounded by death all the time, but not phased by it. Comfort's family makes their home at the Snowberger Funeral Home. Comfort sees death on a daily basis, but it does not mean anything until two family members die in a short period of time. While having to deal with the deaths of family members, Comfort also has to deal with possibly losing her best friend, and dealing with her embarrassing younger cousin Peach. To add to the tension, there is a bigger flood coming, and Comfort is going to be stuck in the middle of it in a life or death situation.
This book by Deborah Wiles has been a wonderful tool in my classroom. I realized how powerful it was when one of my students lost her father on the very first day of school. This book helped her to understand her feelings and to vocalize them in some way. It is a book that forces us to be empathetic, and helps us to see how important family and friends can be in tough times. Most importantly this book shows us that when death comes visiting, it is not important how someone died, it is important how they lived. It teaches us that life is messy and beautiful all at the same time.
What a tough subject matter to discuss in class, especially in light of the little girl who lost her father. I remember a methods class in college where we discussed helping students deal with grief, though I don't remember any specific children's literature on the topic. I can see how this topic might dissuade some teachers who worry about discussing death in class because death is closely tied to spiritual beliefs. Did you explore religious beliefs in class as a result of reading this book? Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI didn't really explore religious beliefs, and it was a concern at first. But what I discovered is that most kids just wanted to talk about feelings. I do discuss at the beginning of the book that different people have different ideas of what happens when people die, and we will be respectful of them all, but that is usually where they stop wanting to talk about it. The book really focuses on Comfort's relationship with her best friend and having to deal with her cousin Peach. You get a lot more reaction from kids to those situations.
ReplyDeleteI first read this book when my mother-in-law recommended it, and I was thinking that I might use it as Book Club book in an undergrad section of children's lit. When I got to the part near the end (spoiler alert) when I first realized that something was about to happen to the dog, I physically threw the book across the bed and yelled, "She's not going to kill the dog?!" I was so mad; however, it's what needed to happen. I was so connected with the characters that I was very emotionally invested, but I was still caught completely by surprise. Great book choice.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben that this book is an amazing read for kids. I remember being observed by my principal while we were reading this book, and he was shocked how involved all of the students were. I think there are so many things in it that children relate to, but are not sure they should ask about or talk about, that they feel relieved to find that others have similar experiences.
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