Now you've gone and made me homesick for my childhood! I grew up in a small town in the hills of Tennessee with all kinds of critters and this book took me back there. Especially the box of baby possums someone gave me that my parents quickly made disappear. Thanks for the pleasant memories.

Full of bittersweet and endearing tales, 'Shoebox Funeral' delivers touching eulogies to the small farm animals that have enriched the lives of the Voltz family. Elisabeth Voltz's heart-warming and tear-jerking memoirs of the slew of pets that her and her family have raised, rescued, repaired and rejuvenated, are sure to tug at your hearts strings, as she also details the nature and life of her parents and siblings. My favorite account dealt with a blind-cat, Monet, wanting very much to be a mother and the struggles she went through. Voltz writing brings you awfully close to the essence and identity of her pets and family, lamenting and celebrating life in all shapes and sizes.

There are so many things to say about this book but I just don't know how to put it into words that will justify how amazing this book is! For some reason I didn't think I was going to like this book, but I was so wrong. I loved it!

Shoebox Funeral isn't the most fast-paced book I've ever read. However I don't believe it needed to be fast paced. I liked the fact that when I read it I appreciated everything that was being said throughout the book and I wasn't reading so fast that I couldn't take some parts in properly. I was fascinated every time I picked up this book.

I really connected with the characters throughout this book. I felt for the animals, for Voltz and for her family. Growing up in a small-town with many farms nearby made me appreciate what she had to say, and how she felt throughout situations.

I'm so glad that I took the time to appreciate everything Voltz had to say in Shoebox Funeral - I highly recommend this.

What an absolutely sweet and grounding book this is. I expected something like one of the Herriot's books, but no, this is down to earth and very humbling - it took me by surprise and I just couldn't stop reading it (till 3.00am).
The little illustrations where just beautiful and just right; and the stories are told in a very matter of fact way, but you can't miss the love and care with which Elizabeth tries to make life so much better for the animals that find their way to her farm.
This is a story of a remarkable family doing remarkable things, and a stories told by remarkable young girl, who even with her own problems, was able to look after, love and lose so many creatures that would never have experience any without her and her family.
Yes there where tears, but not so much for the story, but for all the missed opportunities that we humans have passed up in our lives.

I'm big into death... I find it fascinating, so this title and description drew me in. But somehow this was just lacking. It was just alright. There were a few cute and enjoyable stories about favorite "pets" but overall I think the stories passed from one animal/subject to another so quickly that you didn't really end up caring all that much about any of it. I like the idea of this book. I think the look into growing up in this environment was fascinating, especially from the eyes of child, but because I wasn't really reading the book for that reason I was left kind of flat.
I must state that the drawings at the beginning of each chapter were absolutely adorable. I think I loved every single one.... then I get to the end of the book and find out that the author is an artist. I'm sure these were hers and she certainly has a talent.

This is a book of short stories. Written and lived by Elizabeth Voltz. Beth grew up on a farm as 1 of 10 kids in Grove City Pennsylvania. People in town would bring animals to the farm a lot not just unwanted ones but also dying one. The family tended these animals until they either made the sick ones better or they died.

This was a very hard book for me to get through, thankfully I had a new box of tissue. While and after reading this book I cuddled with my 2 ten year old dogs a lot and also had a few dreams. I probably should of put the book down and moved on. My heart was a little to tender for this book. But I am glad I read it.

I received this book from the Author or Publisher via Netgalley.com to read and review.

I loved this unique book, tried to review but it wouldn't let me

I did not think I was going to like this book. I went into it with very low expectations and thankfully, those expectations were greatly surpassed.

This is a book about death, as the title would imply. Actually, the copy I read has a different title. It seems this book has various titles. The one I read was Shoebox Funeral: Stories from Wolf Creek. The one that appears on Goodreads is Grave Tales: Stories from Wolf Creek. But it’s also just called The Little Book of Death. It doesn’t matter. They are all the same book, a thing I wish I had known from the very start.


Anyway, back to the book. It’s about death. It is a collection of true stories about a young girl who is one of ten siblings living on a farm in Pennsylvania, as she loves and cares for dying animals. When reading the synopsis, this book did not stand out to me. I have never been on a farm and the idea of death frightens me more than anything else in the world. Now, I am glad I gave this book a chance.

The book is beautifully written, as well as beautifully illustrated. There is something about the simplicity of the writing that I found charming. The way that Voltz speaks of each creature she cared for as if each was it’s own person, important and loved.

Th book is sad, it deals with the tragedies of life and the knowledge that death is inescapable. It also has a lot of hope, the desire to against all odds try to do something good, to try and save the unsavable.

I only wish there were more of the story, as the book is only 140 pages.