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This book has a good message for young children about the death of animals. It is very straightforward and has unique child-like illustrations.

“Then they cried because their singing was so beautiful and the ferns smelled so sweetly and the bird was dead“

I am unsure if I would read this book to an entire class of students because of its heavy content about death. However, I think this book would be good to read one-on-one with a student who has experienced the death of a pet or animal in general.

This book can be used in the classroom if you know there may be a loss because it does make it light-hearted and shows varying emotions but in the end, the children end up okay. Along with the overall message- as I talked about in the review the medium and use of colors keep it youthful.

“The Dead Bird“ was illustrated by Christian Robinson and it is understood that the medium used to illustrate the pictures allows to keep it very playful even though the overall message is about a dead bird. The use of what seems to be either paint or the use of oil pastels may give it that youthful feel.

“Then they cried because their singing was so beautiful and the ferns smelled so sweetly and the bird was dead.“

When introducing the life cycle to young children, I believe this would be a very fitting book. It shows the death of an animal in a lighthearted way and touches some social emotional learning qualities from how the children go about after the death of the bird. It would be good for grades kindergarten to 4th grade.

The illustrator uses color to create a very fun cartoony world to explain the story of the dead bird. The cartoony/sketchy artistry allows the author to tell a lighthearted and happy story about how a group of children react when finding a dead bird. The colors carry the reader throughout the reading experience. It is very child-like sketches, but fits extremely well.

Interesting way to introduce animal deaths to children.

2⭐️ This review is for the original version with illustrations by Remy Charlip. Well, that was depressing. A group of kids find a dead bird, bury it, sing it a song, and try to remember it everyday. I can a lesson in being respectful of the dead and taking care of them, but I think in modern times parents would be turned off by this book. But maybe not. There is a new edition out. A lesson in empathy maybe?

3⭐️ The story was not changed but the illustrations were in this new edition. While still a sad book the illustrations make it a little more upbeat, but still too much of a downer for this reader. #picturebookchallenge

Super strange, and unintentionally funny. I read this to my two youngest kids, and they laughed hysterically at the song the kids sing at the bird funeral. My 7-year old said, "I feel like that wasn't supposed to be funny, but it kind of was." It felt like it was trying to be real and sparse, but my kids, who have dealt with death in their young lives, thought it was just silly. I agree. Cute illustrations in the new edition, though.