Clare's Goodbye

As a family prepares to move, three siblings say goodbye to their home. Rosie and Jacob say goodbye to the tree house and the garden. Clare, the youngest, doesn't seem to want to say goodbye. She sits on the steps of the house with her head on her hands. The older siblings write goodbye in the sand of the sandpit where there used to be toys, but Clare does nothing. They watch as the movers move their things from the house and Clare disappears. After checking each empty room in the house, Jacob finally opens the door to their old bedroom. Alone in the room is Clare and she is dancing. They watch her with her eyes closed, her arms spread wide as she moves around and around in the sun-dappled space. Rosie and Jacob silently join her in dancing a goodbye dance. Impressionistic illustrations dominated by charcoal and pencil with a thoughtful use of watercolors and collage create the quiet mood. Heavy use of charcoal shading around the children, like an aura of sadness, and somber-faces visually express the real difficulty children have learning to say goodbye. VERDICT This is an empathetic book to read to children to learn both about others' sadness or when they themselves must say goodbye and move on. A good choice for one-on-one sharing and discussion.