And Peter Said Goodbye

Intended as bibliotherapy to help children deal with death, this fulsome picture book is more likely to elicit guffaws than to promote healing. Angry that he's not allowed to attend his grandfather's funeral, Peter seeks refuge at their favorite fishing spot. There he encounters Mrs. Murgatroyd, a sort of New Age granny / goddess figure who lives in a tree and dispenses rainbows and wisdom. With her help, Peter paints a 10-story-high green robot that comes to life and whisks him across the country to California (where else?), where he witnesses his grandfather's death in a vision (a dubious remedy for mourning if ever there was one), attends the funeral and finds the closure he needs. Scardova's dewy, butterfly-strewn artwork is all hearts and flowers, and the liberal sprinkling of fairy dust (used to denote the story's dream portions) only adds insult to injury. Grief is tough enough for children to negotiate without having to wade through such muck as this. Ages 5-9. (Sept.)