Each Little Bird That Sings

Last updated

Each Little Bird That Sings is a 2005 novel aimed for people of all ages, by Deborah Wiles, the author of Love, Ruby Lavender . It won the 2006 Association of Booksellers for Children E. B. White Read Aloud Award for older children, [1] was a finalist at the 2005 United States National Book Awards, [2] and won the California Young Reader Medal in 2008.

Contents

Comfort Snowberger's family lives in the fictional Snapfinger, Mississippi, where they own a funeral home. As a result, Comfort has grown up around a funeral culture and has attended 247 funerals. Comfort has a best friend named Declaration, and a cousin named Peach, whom she dislikes.

Summary

This book says that death is a part of life

Comfort Snowberger's Great-great-Aunt Florentine dies in her garden, and her Great-Uncle Edisto dies the day they had planned a picnic. Comfort is very worried about her next funeral, which will be her 248th, and whose it will be. She is also annoyed with the burden of having to care for her cousin, Peach, after the funeral. After a while, this is when Comfort realizes that her true friend had been there all along with Peach. All Comfort wants to do now is hide in her closet with Dismay. However, Comfort, Peach and Dismay are caught in a flash flood at the cemetery, and struggle to stay above water on an oak tree. Comfort tells Peach to let Dismay go, but Peach does not hear her, submerged underwater. Comfort pries Peach's fingers off of Dismay's collar, leaving the dog to float down the stream alone. Dismay's collar is found by Declaration close to a drainage ditch near Lake Tallyhoma. Knowing he is dead, Snapfinger holds a memorial service for Dismay, but Declaration and Comfort remain upset with each other.

Main characters

Related Research Articles

<i>Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat</i> Childrens animated television series

Sagwa, the Chinese Siamese Cat, or simply Sagwa, is a children's animated television series based on the children's book of the same name by Amy Tan which aired on PBS Kids, co-produced by Canada-based animation studio CinéGroupe and Sesame Street creator Sesame Workshop.

<i>Ramona</i> (novel series) Novel series by Beverly Cleary

The Ramona books are a series of eight humorous children's novels by Beverly Cleary that center on Ramona Quimby, her family and friends. The first book, Beezus and Ramona, appeared in 1955. The final book, Ramona's World, was published in 1999. Two books in the series were named Newbery Honor books, Ramona and Her Father and Ramona Quimby, Age 8. Ramona and Her Mother received the National Book Award. Sometimes known as the Beezus and Ramona series, as of 2012, the books were being marketed by HarperCollins as "The Complete Ramona Collection".

<i>Over Sea, Under Stone</i> 1965 childrens book by Susan Cooper

Over Sea, Under Stone is a contemporary fantasy novel written for children by the English author Susan Cooper, first published in London by Jonathan Cape in 1965. Cooper wrote four sequels about ten years later, making it the first volume in a series usually called The Dark Is Rising Sequence. In contrast to the rest of the series, it is more a mystery, with traditional fantasy elements mainly the subject of hints later in the narrative. Thus it may ease readers into the fantasy genre.

<i>Inkheart</i> 2003 young adult fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke

Inkheart is a 2003 young adult fantasy novel by Cornelia Funke, and is the first book of the Inkheart series, with Inkspell (2005) and Inkdeath (2007) succeeding it. The novel became one of the finalists of 2004 BookSense Book of the Year Award for Children's Literature and won the Flicker Tale Children's Book Award in 2006. Based on a 2007 online poll, the National Education Association listed the book as one of its "Teachers' Top 100 Books for Children".

<i>Number the Stars</i> 1989 novel by Lois Lowry

Number the Stars is a work of historical fiction by the American author Lois Lowry about the escape of a family of Jews from Copenhagen, Denmark, during World War II.

<i>Aunt Philliss Cabin</i> 1852 anti-Tom novel by Mary Henderson Eastman

Aunt Phillis's Cabin; or, Southern Life as It Is by Mary Henderson Eastman is a plantation fiction novel, and is perhaps the most read anti-Tom novel in American literature. It was published by Lippincott, Grambo & Co. of Philadelphia in 1852 as a response to Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin, published earlier that year. The novel sold 20,000–30,000 copies, far fewer than Stowe's novel, but still a strong commercial success and bestseller. Based on her growing up in Warrenton, Virginia, of an elite planter family, Eastman portrays plantation owners and slaves as mutually respectful, kind, and happy beings.

"God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen," also known as "God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen," is an English traditional Christmas carol. It is in the Roxburghe Collection, and is listed as no. 394 in the Roud Folk Song Index. It is also known as "Tidings of Comfort and Joy," and by other variant incipits.

<i>Police at the Funeral</i> Novel by Margery Allingham

Police at the Funeral is a crime novel by Margery Allingham, first published in October 1931, in the United Kingdom by Heinemann, London and in 1932 in the United States by Doubleday, Doran, New York. It is the fourth novel with the mysterious Albert Campion, aided as usual by his butler/valet/bodyguard Magersfontein Lugg and his policeman friend Stanislaus Oates.

"The Doodle" is the 106th episode of the NBC sitcom Seinfeld. This is the 20th episode for the sixth season and aired on April 6, 1995. In this episode, Jerry's apartment is infested with fleas, George struggles over his girlfriend's opinion of his physical appearance, Kramer indulges his love for Mackinaw peaches, and Elaine loses a literary manuscript that she is expected to review for a job interview.

<i>Eight Cousins</i> 1875 novel by Louisa May Alcott

Eight Cousins, or The Aunt-Hill was published in 1875 by American novelist Louisa May Alcott. It was originally published as a serial in St. Nicholas. It is the story of Rose Campbell, who has been recently orphaned and resides with her maiden great aunts, the matriarchs of her wealthy family near Boston, until her guardian, Uncle Alec, returns from abroad to take over her care. Through his unorthodox theories about child-rearing, she becomes happier and healthier while finding her place in her family of seven boy cousins and numerous aunts and uncles. She also makes friends with Phebe, her aunts' young housemaid. Eight Cousins received both favorable and unfavorable reviews in the early days of its publication. Reviews focused on Alcott's stylistic tone as well as the portrayal of characters and realism. In Eight Cousins, Alcott discusses transcendental education, child-rearing, and social differences.

<i>Five on a Treasure Island</i> 1942 childrens novel by Enid Blyton

Five on a Treasure Island is a popular children's book by Enid Blyton. It is the first book in The Famous Five series. The first edition of the book was illustrated by Eileen Soper.

<i>Does My Head Look Big in This?</i> 2005 book by Randa Abdel-Fattah

Does My Head Look Big In This? is author Randa Abdel-Fattah's first novel. It was released in Australia, by Pan MacMillan Australia, on 1 August 2005. It won the Australian Book Industry Award and Australian Book of The Year Award for older children.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Deborah Wiles</span> Childrens book author

Deborah Wiles is a children's book author. Her second novel, Each Little Bird That Sings, was a 2005 National Book Award finalist. Her documentary novel, Revolution, was a 2014 National Book Award finalist. Wiles received the PEN/Phyllis Naylor Working Writer Fellowship in 2004 and the E.B. White Read-Aloud Award in 2005. Her fiction centers on home, family, kinship, and community, and often deals with historical events, social justice issues, and childhood reactions to those events, as well as everyday childhood moments and mysteries, most taken directly from her childhood. She often says, "I take my personal narrative and turn it into story."

<i>Aunt Janes Nieces at Millville</i> 1908 young adult novel written by L. Frank Baum

Aunt Jane's Nieces at Millville is a 1908 young adult novel written by L. Frank Baum, famous as the creator of the Land of Oz. It is the third volume in "the successful Aunt Jane Series," following Aunt Jane's Nieces and Aunt Jane's Nieces Abroad. These books for adolescent girls constituted the second greatest success of Baum's literary career, after the Oz books. Like the other books in the series, the Millville volume was released under the pen name "Edith Van Dyne," one of Baum's multiple pseudonyms.

The Rondo series is a children's fantasy novel trilogy written by Jennifer Rowe under the pen name Emily Rodda.

<i>Children of the River</i>

Children of the River is a young adult novel by Linda Crew published in 1989. It follows a young girl who moves to the United States to escape from the war in Cambodia. She becomes friends with an American boy, Jonathan McKinnon.

<i>The Shepherds Granddaughter</i> 2008 childrens novel by Anne Laurel Carter

The Shepherd's Granddaughter is a children's novel by Anne Laurel Carter published in 2008. It provides a fictional account of the complex situation between the Jewish and Muslim communities in Palestine, which is seen through the eyes of Amani, a Palestinian girl six years old when the story begins, who sees the land of her ancestors stolen from her family. The issues behind the conflict are too complex for Amani's naïve understanding, but her way of expressing the situation is moving. Carter was inspired to write the novel by her meeting with Palestinians who were living through similar situations that she writes about in the book.

<i>Amelia and Me</i> 2013 childrens fiction novel by Heather Stemp

Amelia and Me is a 2013 children's fiction novel by Heather Stemp. The book is edited by Paul Butler. A photo gallery and glossary are included in the end of the paperback edition. The novel was originally written to record the author's family history. The setting and characters are non-fictional, with Ginny Ross, the main character, being the author's aunt. Amelia and Me was shortlisted for the 2014/15 Red Cedar Book Award, and is in the Canadian Children's Book Centre's Best Books for Kids & Teens Spring 2014 Selection.

<i>The Friend</i> (novel) 2018 novel by Sigrid Nunez

The Friend is a novel by the American writer Sigrid Nunez published by Riverhead Books in 2018. The book concerns an unnamed novelist who adopts a Great Dane that belonged to a deceased friend and mentor.

References

  1. "The Association of Booksellers for Children has announced the 2006 E. B. White Read Aloud Awards". Booklist . May 1, 2006. Retrieved 2009-01-16.
  2. "Tucker author receives book award nomination". Atlanta Journal-Constitution . October 13, 2005. Retrieved 2009-01-16.