Daughter and I have an unreasonably great love of these books. They are just so right. Sigh. ( )

Such a tender book! This is one of those books that pinches your heart. I'm not sure if it was the delicate watercolor illustrations, the expressive faces of Celestine and Ernest, or the sparsity of words that touched me the most, but this story of friendship is so lovingly told.

My 4 year old really empathized with the characters, however he didn't understand why Ernest didn't rescue the frozen little stuffed bird when he found him in the snow, rather than go search for a new one. But he loved the solution they eventually came up with. And he got extra satisfaction out of reading himself a book that didn't have enlarged letters or "early reader" written all over it. We'll definitely try to find more books in this series, so sweet.

And funny how just recently we discovered another story about a "lost bird" in the wonderful [b:Home for Bird|12567892|A Home for Bird|Philip C. Stead|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1348636313s/12567892.jpg|17576044]. ( )

I think as a mother I can particularly relate to this book. Most children lose a favorite toy at some point and has to deal with the loss. This book makes the transition from accepting a new Gideon a bit too easy. My own son grieved for weeks after a similar event but eventually found a new favorite on his own. He had a bear which he named flying bear and threw it out of the window on a busy street. As much as I wanted to go and retrieve it, it was just too dangerous. Replacing him was not an option, instead we decided that he flew off to a new home to make another child happy. Each child will handle things differently and for some this story offers the best solution. This book may be great for some children while it will totally miss the mark with others. ( )