Title: I Miss You
Author: Pat Thomas
Illustrator: Pat Thomas
Publication/ Year: Barron’s Educational Series, Inc. 2001
Number of Pages: 29
Tags/ Themes: Emotion, Family, Non-Fiction, K-5, Rebecca Cauthorn
Genre: Non-Fiction
Descriptive Annotation: This straightforward book walks through the young reader with how to deal with death. It begins with a brief explanation of what death is, and then moves on to how it is natural to grieve or feel angry or blame yourself. It explains that even though people might not talk to you as much, it’s not because they don’t care, it’s because they don’t know what to say. This book also does a very good job of explaining how different cultures believe different things happen after death, and different cultures do different things to the dead body. The book concludes by saying that it is okay to move on, because they will always be with you in your heart, just by thinking or remembering them. The book includes questions directed to the reader (such as, “Do you know anyone who has died?”) and a list of suggestions of how to use this book best.
Classroom Application: This book would be more appropriate to use on a student-to-student basis. Perhaps one of the students just had a grandparent pass away. This might be a good opportunity to bring this book in and give it to their parent, to have them share it with the student. Or, if your relationship with the student was close enough, you could talk through it with them. Or, you could give it to a school counselor and have this book be an aide to the grieving process. It focuses more on the Social an Emotional Learning Standards because this is about dealing with grief and other emotions. Because this book has questions directed to the reader, it could be good to help them process out loud what is going on and what they are feeling. It is also very good because it is important for kids to recognize their emotions and feelings rather than shoving them away and ignoring them.
Linguistic and Cultural Diversity Analysis: This book has terrific cultural diversity! Not only does it explain how different cultures believe in different things after death, but it also explains that different cultures grieve differently, and that is okay! Because no matter where the person really ends up going, the important part is that the people who love them are honoring their lives in their own special way. Additionally, the book illustrates many different ethnicities, which is good because it makes the book more approachable for all readers (not just white people have people die!). This also could help spur conversation about different religions and cultures and diversity in the classroom. The language of this book is simple and to the point. It is blunt, but gentle. Death is a very tricky subject to talk about, but I think this book handles it quite well, and it opens the door for a good discussion to be had about it.
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