{"id":33388,"date":"2021-07-15T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33388"},"modified":"2021-07-15T08:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T12:00:00","slug":"childrens-books-to-cheer-an-adult-facing-end-of-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33388","title":{"rendered":"Children&#8217;s Books to Cheer an Adult Facing End of Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>I got an email this morning from a very good, dear, out of state customer, letting me know that a good friend of hers, someone she regularly has me pick out books for, is terminally ill. She asked me to pick out some books for her one last time with a special mind to end of life.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/9781481426404-1-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/9781481426404-1-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33394\" width=\"150\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>We often think of children&#8217;s books as a means for helping a child handle and grow from loss, but now I asked myself which books would mean most to an adult facing \u201cthe poppy that abideth all of us by the harbour of oblivion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/9780545927956-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/9780545927956-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33389\" width=\"150\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>I sought books that warmly, richly, and truly convey an enduring dynamic loss captured and cultivated in the integration of continued life and engaged memory. I picked out two novels and one picture books which embody this principle. The novels are <em>Otherwise Known as Possum<\/em> by Catherine Laso, and <em>The Secret Horses of Briar Hill <\/em>by Megan Shepherd. The picture book <em>is Ida Always<\/em> by Caron Levis, illustrated by Charles Santoso.<\/p>\n\n\n<p><em>Otherwise Known as Possum<\/em> is a remarkable affirmation of life enriched by loss, written by an author literally on her deathbed. It is truly a triumph of the human spirit and redolent with warmth and humor and truth.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large is-resized\"><a href=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/9781101939789-1.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/wordpress.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/9781101939789-1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-33390\" width=\"150\"\/><\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n<p>I can\u2019t think of any book that captures the power imagination has over life, especially as it\u2019s narrative is forced to an ending, than <em>The Secret Horses of Briar Hill<\/em>. Nor a book that so strongly affirms the power of shared and affirmed imagination, which is a powerfully important aspect of friendship.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Picking a picture book was a toughie, as I really love <em>Samsara Dog<\/em> too, but to me <em>Ida Always<\/em> so perfectly affirms the power of living memory that no book could be more touching or supportive for anyone facing the end of life either personally or though loss.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Those were my picks. What would yours be?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Picking out books for a customer one last time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33388","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33388","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33388"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33388\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33388"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33388"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33388"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}