I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. This picture book is about a mama swallow who loses an egg when there is an accident and her egg cracks. Gabriel is sad to see his mother so sad so he tries to cheer her up.

*thank you to Netgalley, Chouette Publishing and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

2 stars.

Had this just been advertised as a book for children about the importance of how a little kindness goes a long way to cheering someone up, it would have gotten more stars from me. But instead this story was written as a metaphor for miscarriage for little kids. I don't think small children are going to actually grasp that concept through this story. I know that it stated that the mother bird was sad because her egg feel to the ground, which says that the baby bird in the egg died. That was a great start but it isn't easy enough then for an child to connect that with human miscarriage I don't think.

The illustrations were nice though. I just think the story needed something else to make up the metaphor more obvious.

The illustrations are beautiful, and unfortunately there is a place for books like these. The topic breaks your heart, but I think kids are capable of understanding this story and applying it to their own family situations. I think books are a great tool to communicate emotions - especially when shared between a parent and child.

This is a sweet book, and it's about a subject I've never seen before. But it left me up in the air. It was lovely that the little bird understood why his mother was upset, but the ending seems sort of anticlimactic.

TW- miscarriage and loss. This beautiful and sad story of loss and how the people we love can help us to overcome, or live with our grief. The simple and kind way this story of miscarriage is presented is child friendly and easy to understand. The egg falling as a symbol of miscarriage was quite beautiful. An egg that is so fragile and small... it is a perfect symbol.

This may not be for everyone as we all deal with grief in different ways, but I think it’s a good tool.

Seeing as this book is said to open the lines to help explain fried and loss to a child I’m just not sure how this is going to entirely work.

I understand the concept, a loss of an egg, no brother or sister and relating it to birds/chicks and trying to see this through the eyes of a child.

I’m just not convinced.

The illustrations were good, that’s why I upped it to a 3*

This book is a good tool to help children understand miscarriages and grief that comes with them. Overall the books message was a good one. I just wish it explained the grief aspect a little bit more. The artwork in the book is beautiful and the message overall was a good one.

I don't know if this picture book would work for the intended audience. The "subtle metaphor" mentioned in the synopsis is probably too subtle for kids to get, while being not subtle enough for the adults reading it. (The nest even looks a bit like a uterus, and when it fails at the bottom, dropping the egg... Well, I'm not sure how that's going to play with women who've had miscarriages.)

Basically, Gabriel the bird is disappointed, but tries to cheer his mother up by flying around with her and looking at the scenery. I'm just not sure if that's enough for a book with this subject matter and theme. I don't think kids should feel responsible for their parents' emotional well-being, either, which is another reason why I'm hesitant to recommend this one.

The pictures are simple (maybe a little too simple) and bright, but I don't know if they'd be that appealing to kids. The use of birds in this case also leads to a disconnect between the text and illustrations, such as when the story says that Gabriel nestles in his mother's lap. Obviously, that's not something birds can do (and I'm glad the illustrator didn't even attempt to portray it)!

This is a bit of a miss for me. While the intent behind this book is good, I don't think the execution quite works.