Illustrated by Eda Kaban
4 stars
A fun picture book adaptation of The Guncle. The original novel is still on my TBR but this sweet picture book made me want to get around to reading it soon.
After the death of their mother, Maisie and Grant spend the summer with their Uncle Patrick. He does his best to cheer them up with pool floats, ice cream, and even a dog, but nothing seems to work. Finally, he sees the best thing he can do is to help them work through their grief and honor their mother’s memory.
This was such a sweet story. There are little bits of humor worked in with the children’s perspectives on how different their Guncle’s life is in Palm Springs with his pink Christmas tree, date shake, and funny words for things.
A good read for older readers. The text is quite lengthy at times. Also, the mentions of death are very vague so not great for very concrete thinkers. I honestly didn’t even realize the mother was dead for a good chunk of the book. It does follow the “she’ll be there” approach that our loved ones are always with us. Again, not great for concrete thinkers. A better fit for older readers that can better understand that your memories of someone are a way to keep them with you.
The illustrations are lovely. Great details.
I wouldn’t recommend it for talking about death specifically, but it was a really sweet story. I also love the idea of an adult novel being made into a picture book that focuses on the children’s experience. This was a really nice story for that approach.
A sweet story about family, connection, and remembering loved ones after they’re gone.