By Oliver Jeffers
*****
A joyful and curious child finds herself with a heart she must protect after she discovers her beloved grandfather's chair empty. Oliver Jeffers' newest book, The Heart and the Bottle, is by far his deepest message.
Those who are drawn to Jeffers' books because of the illustrations will not be disappointed! For the first time he starts out a book with "Once there was a girl" as opposed to most of his others which the main character is a boy. The simplicity and beauty of his artwork remains remarkably the same with this new character, however the girl creates a new personality amongst his paintings. Children and art-lovers everywhere will come again and again to The Heart and the Bottle to turn it's pages and admire the new friends on it's pages.
The storyline is a bit grim and unexpected from the cheerful and imaginative Oliver Jeffers, but the way he words it, it is perfect. He introduces us to a girl, and through the pictures we see her always with her grandfather. She is happy and full of wonder, until the day her grandfather's chair is empty (this is Jeffers' way of saying her grandfather had died). She wants to protect her heart so she puts it in a bottle for safe-keeping, unfortunately this causes her to loose all the joy and youth she once had. The book takes you through her life, until you find the very happy resolution that helped her regain her heart.
Although this book has a pleasant ending, it is a bleak journey to get there, so this book isn't recommended for the tenderhearted or for children who have not discovered the fact of death just yet. The Heart and the Bottle is a fantastic tool for children (and even adults) who have suffered a loss because it teaches a wonderful lesson of not to protect your heart so much that you loose trust and happiness.
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