Golden Bird - Hardcover

Stolp, Hans

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0803706812 ISBN 13: 9780803706811

Publisher: Dial, 1990

Synopsis

Engaged in a losing battle with cancer, ten-year-old Daniel is comforted by many people but finds his greatest solace in the visits of a phoenix-like golden bird and its vision of rebirth and renewal.

About this title

Language Notes:

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: Dutch

From School Library Journal:

Grade 3 Up-- A gentle, compelling tale about an 11-year-old boy who is hospitalized with cancer. Looking up, Daniel sees three birds on his windowsill: one green, one blue, and one golden. The blue bird visits him every day, bringing him messages from the golden bird. " 'Watch the tree outside your window,' " Daniel is told. " 'It may look dead to you, but . . . if you look more closely, you'll see buds on it.' " Daniel dreams about his father who died four years earlier. When he wants to run to him, his father calls out, "Not yet, Daniel." The boy discusses his cancer with his mother and his nurses, and lovingly, but honestly, they help him face his death. The first-person narrative is filled with love and images that reflect the mystical nature of death. In his preoccupation with childbirth and the reflowering of the cherry tree, Daniel comes to see death as a transformation. Woven into the narrative are realistic hospital scenes: mother at the bedside knitting, nurses giving care, visitors talking with Daniel. This book, simply and beautifully written, provides a reassuring and realistic approach to discussing death and dying with children. It will be welcomed by all who must cope with the death of a terminally ill child. --Constance A. Mellon, Department of Library & Information Studies, East Carolina Univ . , Greenville, NC
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Dial
• Publication date: 1990
• ISBN 10: 0803706812
• ISBN 13: 9780803706811
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 55