Flamingo Dream

Kindergarten-Grade 3-This aesthetically appealing and emotionally affecting title provides a child's-eye view of the death of a parent from cancer. The collages are designed to look like a scrapbook of a girl's last year with her father; bits of maps, flowers, ticket stubs, feathers, and dictionary pages are layered with textured papers and paint. The characters are crayon cutouts. Their time together includes a trip to Florida to visit the father's birthplace and favorite childhood haunts. This is where the flamingos figure in, and each resurfacing becomes a vibrant, visual symbol of a cherished relationship. They elicit, in turn, joy, anger, tears, a sense of well being. Napoli's simple and straightforward language describes what dying looks like to a young person and depicts the stages of grief in an accessible and age-appropriate manner. The changes in the father's body are compared to the metamorphosis of autumnal leaves. Those wishing to probe spiritual matters would need to add their own thoughts or look elsewhere. As a script and a story for a subject that many find difficult to broach with children, this book succeeds beautifully. The final scene, with the mother and daughter working on the "Year Book" together, may well inspire readers to celebrate a loved one in a similar manner.
Wendy Lukehart, Washington DC Public Library
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