School Library Journal Starred Review (Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2021)

K-Gr 2 Mourning the death of the family dog, Charlie, Louise rows out to a small island beloved by him. Deer, chipmunks, and butterflies begin to appear and suddenly Louise comes face to face with a bear. Her emotions roil at the sight of the bear and she returns his roar with a scream, "Afraid yetangry. Angry to be made afraid. Angry about Charlie." But Louise sees her emotions mirrored: "This bear. A familiar feeling. A familiar sadness." Each day Louise returns to the island as she and the bear help each other heal from grief. As the seasons change and winter arrives, Louise must say goodbye to the bear. The short sentences and spare text lend an immediacy to Louise's emotions while the loose, sketchy illustrations style use vignettes, storyboards, and full-page spreads to depict a visually stunning journey. Of particular impact is the wordless spread as Louise bids farewell to the bear before he goes into hibernation. The outdoors and its symbiotic relationship with Louise allows her to express herself, cope, remember, and adapt to the loss of Charlie. New beginnings are reflected in butterflies, smiles, changing seasons; an increasing use of color in the illustrations and a new puppy convey the hope of moving on from grief. VERDICT A poetically beautiful story of grief and healing mirrored in the natural world has a touch of magical realism as a young girl processes her emotions and realizes that endings lead to beginnings.Ramarie Beaver, formerly at Plano P.L., TX

ALA Booklist (Tue Dec 01 00:00:00 CST 2020)

Louise and her parents, who live beside a lake, are grieving the loss of their dog, Charlie. Mom and Dad go about their chores inside, but Louise takes their boat to a nearby island, a place Charlie loved. There she senses changes: a flock of butterflies, tame deer, and a very large (and seemingly sad) bear. Bear and girl exchange roars but support each other over the coming weeks as life gradually improves for everyone. When Bear hibernates for the winter, Louise is bereft again, but a new puppy helps to ease the loss. Cordell's heartfelt story includes pen-and-ink illustrations, enlivened with watercolor and gouache. Brown tones predominate in the beginning illustrations (where sadness pervades); brighter hues appear once Louise and the bear (as well as Mom and Dad) begin to heal. Grief can be particularly difficult to address with young children, and Cordell wisely eschews the platitudes often associated with this emotion, choosing instead to demonstrate the healing powers of nature and time.

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2021)

As in his Caldecott Medal-winning Wolf in the Snow (rev. 11/16), Cordell begins his story before the title page, a series of wordless images telling of loss and sadness -- a framed picture of a dog, a family portrait, objects being packed away -- ending with, "Goodbye, Charlie." The title page, with its colorful butterfly on a rock against a watery-blue backdrop, foreshadows the story's theme of transformation. The narrative continues with simple words: "On a lake, there was a house...on that lake, there was an island," to which protagonist Louise rows, alone. A brown palette mirrors the girl's sadness, but when butterflies appear on the island, and then a chipmunk and deer, the palette subtly lightens: "Something new and good was happening on the island." Then "ROOAARR," a bear appears. It scares Louise, until she recognizes in the creature "a familiar feeling. A familiar sadness." A circle encloses Louise and the bear and focuses on their shared emotions, then panels continue the narrative, portraying the growing friendship between the two. The youngest of listeners will likely accept a bear's presence on the island, but older readers may, like Louise, eventually wonder if the bear had ever really been there. Life comes full circle for our protagonist, literally, as the final illustration is Cordell's signature circle again enclosing Louise -- with a smile; the island in the background now green; and Milly, her new dog. [See the similarly themed The Boy and the Gorilla, reviewed on page 61.]

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

In a house by a lake, Louise and her parents mourn the loss of Charlie, their dog. There-s an island on the lake, and Louise rows out there in angry turmoil, painted in sepia scenes by Caldecott Medalist Cordell (Wolf in the Snow). She waits for something to happen, but there-s only silence. -I-m leaving!- she shouts, thwacking a stick against a tree. Butterflies emerge, and deer, and then there-s a noise--a snapping of trees noise... a chuffing of breath noise--and a bear appears. The bear, Louise sees in his defeated posture and sad expression, has also suffered a loss. Louise returns to the island throughout the summer and fall; Cordell portrays her as a scribbly, friendly pink-sinned figure and the bear as a massive, magnificent one. Vignettes show the two as they travel through their grief together: -Some days, only Louise was better. Some days, only Bear was better.- But both heal, slowly, a change traced across the seasons via an imperceptible transformation to full color. In a story that respects grief-s slow pace, Cordell-s writing and artwork together carry grace, economy, and heart. Ages 2-5. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary Studio. (Jan.)