The Heart and the Bottle

Gr 25A 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" Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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 4up. "(Mar.)" Copyright 2010 Publishers Weekly Used with permission.