Cry, Heart, But Never Break

Cry, Heart, But Never Break

Glenn Ringtved

illustrated by Charlotte Pardi 2016

I feel like American books don't often tackle the subject of death for children.  Understandably it's a hard subject that even adults don't know how to talk about.  But when those things are hidden they can seem shameful and scary, especially to children.  I'm impressed by other cultures who don't hide or shy away from death being a normal part of life.  You see it in their folktales, or the stories that are told to help children understand the world around them, the good and bad parts.  This Danish book tackles head on the loss of a grandmother as Death comes to the house to take her.  At first the children keep giving him cups of coffee to delay the inevitable.  But Death, "whose heart beneath his inky cloak, is as red as the most beautiful sunset and beats with a great love of life," patiently tells the children a story.  It's the story of two brothers, "Sorrow" and "Grief," who fall in love with two sisters, "Joy" and "Delight," and how their happiness is made whole by being together.