When Grandfather Flew
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A grieving boy remembers his grandfather and the hobby they shared, in this moving evocation of love and loss by a Newbery Medalist.
Milo's grandfather is fascinated by birds. He admires their freedom and never loses an opportunity to point out the things that make each one special.
When he can no longer see as well as he used to, Milo helps him spot and take care of some of his favorites: hovering kestrels, fragile chickadees, and the bald eagle soaring high overhead.
One day when Milo comes home, Grandpa isn't there.
But when the boy sees an eagle swooping through the sky above, he knows Grandpa is still with them: reborn in the skies, just as he'd wanted.
This honest, reflective, and deeply moving portrait of grief offers young readers comfort and hope in difficult times. When Grandfather Flew celebrates the close, beautiful relationships between children and grandparents, and the unique ways we keep lost loved ones close.
With a lyrical text by acclaimed author Patricia MacLachlan and vivid, textural artwork by Chris Sheban, this wistful story will resonate with anyone who has felt the loss of a loved one-- and will remind you to look for the reminders of the love you shared.
A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this elegiac story about love and loss, a youngest grandchild becomes his grandfather's eyes when the older man begins to lose his sight. Milo is "not a talker," explains his older sister Emma, who narrates, but he pays attention when Grandpa catalogs the birds he loves, the bald eagle chief among them: "The eagle sees the full sky, he sees the world!" Grandpa says. In loose watercolor, pastel, and graphite art, Sheban (Three Squeezes) captures the grace and power of the birds Grandpa admires, and conveys the grandeur of the rural landscape that the family occupies. When Grandpa's sight becomes more limited, Milo turns out to have been listening carefully. "What's that bird?" asks Grandpa. "I can hear him in the fruit trees, but I can't see him." "Cedar waxwing," Milo promptly replies. And it's Milo who helps his family understand what has happened when his grandfather isn't there anymore. MacLachlan (Wondrous Rex) creates deeply sympathetic characters in a few sentences, and invites readers to share in the lives of a family nurtured by the natural world—and comforted by it in their grief. Ages 4–8.
