Review - Where Are You Now?

Where Are You Now?
by Tyler Clark Burke
Date: 2019
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Just as the sun sets to make way for the rising moon, or snowflakes melt only to return as fog and mist, things that disappear in nature often reappear in different forms. This picture book uses this simple but powerful metaphor of disappearance and reappearance as an entry point for talking with children about death.

Drawing examples from nature—seeds, stars, and even the growth of children into adults—this book provides a bright and joyful framework for readers to begin to understand the passing of a loved one, or to help shape difficult conversations around death.

Written in accessible verse and illustrated in bright washes of watercolor, this is a beautiful, gentle book that invites young readers to find comfort in transformation. Built around the idea that death can be thought of as a kind of regeneration, the narrative shows how a loved one’s presence can be felt in meaningful and enduring ways.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I think this is a little esoteric for a children's picture book about death. To me, some of the verses seem rather vague, at least as they're supposed to refer to death and dying.

However, as a book about cycles and renewal, it works much better. Kids can understand how a snowflake melts and then ends up back in the clouds. Asking very young readers to somehow relate the water cycle to their dead grandpa is a bit much.

The illustrations are okay, done in watercolour, although they're a bit uneven. Some are really lovely, while others looked a bit rough and amateurish.

Overall, this is an okay book about natural cycles, but I think it's a bit of a stretch to ask children to understand that it's about death. The flowery talk of stardust, sea glass, and fog might appeal to adults, but I don't know how engaging it's going to be for children.

Thank you to NetGalley and Owlkids Books for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.67 out of 5