The Pond

by Nicola Davies

Overview

The Pond is a touching picture book about a young boy, and his family, overcoming the loss of his father. This colourful, emotional book is filled with natural imagery, and will teach children not only about death and loss, but the importance of the natural world. From Nicola Davies and Cathy Fisher, the duo behind the beautiful children’s book Perfect. The Pond (hardback edition) was first published in May 2017.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781912213504
Publisher:	Graffeg
Publication date:	05/01/2017
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.75(w) x 9.75(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Nicola Davies is an award-winning author, whose many books for children include The Promise (Green Earth Book Award 2015, Greenaway Shortlist 2015), Tiny (AAAS Subaru Prize 2015), A First Book of Nature, Whale Boy (Blue Peter Award Shortlist 2014), and the Heroes of the Wild Series (Portsmouth Book Prize 2014). She graduated in zoology, studied whales and bats and then worked for the BBC Natural History Unit. Underlying all Nicola’s writing is the belief that a relationship with nature is essential to every human being, and that now, more than ever, we need to renew that relationship.

Editorial Reviews

"Heart-wrenching, powerful, and beautifully realized.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review


“[A] gentle expression of coping with love and loss.”  —Foreword Reviews


“The artwork, in pastel crayon and mixed-media, is glorious.” —Booklist


“The book is extraordinary in its beauty and honesty.” —School Library Journal

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2017
K-Gr 4—The first thing one notices about this picture book is the black pages, sometimes appearing as solid backgrounds, at other points layered with textured, mixed media compositions. A relatively rare choice in children's books, but one that supports the despondency and rage a boy experiences when his dad dies. Building a pond had been the father's idea. He and his younger son—the narrator—had envisioned tadpoles and dragonflies; his older son and wife were less enthusiastic. Davies's eloquent narrative rings true to the rhythms of grief. First a false sense of recovery deflates: spotting a duck, the protagonist attempts to fill the empty pond, but the wall breaks and floods the kitchen. The disaster brings out the worst in everyone. Silhouettes scream through splotchy glass; the child curls up in a cocoon of scrawled lines. Fisher's wondrous scenes carry the emotional weight of each stage. Ultimately, a dazzling, rebuilt surprise teems with bubbles, tadpole eggs, and floating green life forms. Healing has taken a firmer hold, and loving memories are shared in a family wall collage. The boy's yearning for connection is fulfilled in the blossoming water lily described by his father, purchased by his brother. The family's ethnic origins and the cause of death are unspecified: "He died and left a muddy, messy hole that filled our garden." These decisions are inclusive for purposes of bibliotherapy, although the skillful storytelling reaches well beyond a niche audience. VERDICT The book is extraordinary in its beauty and honesty—and therefore in its degree of comfort. Best shared one-on-one with a caring adult.—Wendy Lukehart, District of Columbia Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2017-08-02
Dad plans a pond in the backyard and speaks of all the wonderful things that it will hold. But it is a promise left unfulfilled.When Dad dies, the uncompleted pond becomes a large part of the family's grieving. The young narrator wants to see the pond completed, but for now they all see only "the muddy, messy hole that filled our hearts." When the narrator fills the hole with water it makes the mess worse. Mother and older brother let out their anger, and the child retreats, screaming at Dad for dying. The family goes through the motions of their lives, and eventually the rebuilding of the pond brings them together. Then there is vegetation, insects, tadpoles, and dragonflies, just as Dad had envisioned, and they celebrate each sign of life. In time they are able to move on and start anew. Davies avoids sentimentality and pity in expressing the young narrator's raw and painful emotions, as the survivors experience all the stages of grief, separately and together. Fisher's dark-toned illustrations place the family deeply in shadow, encased in their pain. Only the pond has a degree of light, growing a bit stronger as time passes. The family emerges from the shadows emotionally, and finally, the image is bathed in misty light as they leave. Dad is white, and Mum appears to be Asian. Heart-wrenching, powerful, and beautifully realized. (Picture book. 6-10)

Kirkus Reviews