Each Little Bird That Sings

Wiles, Deborah

Gulliver Books, 2005

Realistic Fiction

5th grade and up

This book is about Comfort Snowberger. Her family owns the local funeral parlor which is called Snowbergers. Comfort is very young, but has dealt with hundreds of deaths. She has become comfortable with death until her Aunt Florentine randomly dies. Her best friends name is Declaration and she realizes that best friends may not always be just that. Comforts least favorite person in the world is her cousin, Peach. In the end Comfort learns how to deal with Peach after almost dying her self. During this time she has to let go of her dog, Dismay. During this book Comfort learns about growing up and that friendships may end. She learns that life is complicated and in the end the only people you really need are your family.

Response: At first I felt that this book was hard to get into. When I actually sat down to read it I became very interested in it. Comfort is just a good ole southern girl. She wore the same thing every day, her green shorts and baseball hat. I can definitely relate to this character because I was the exact same way when I was her age. I really enjoyed her character because she was so curious but so smart. Peach reminded me of my little cousin Katie. She is the child in the family that wants to be adored by everyone. It took me a few years to get used to the way that she was just like Comfort had to do. I had a real respect for Comfort because at such a young age she was so comfortable with death. This is something that absolutely scares me because I have never dealt with it before and I am not too sure how I would handle it. Comfort always says “Death is a part of life.” And it is so easy for her to say! One of my favorite quotes from the entire book is “A real friend see past the trouble and into your heart.” (129). I think that is so true and great advice. I thought that the author used really good description when describing certain parts of the book. For example “Then something wonderful happened. As we talked and sang great-great Aunt Florentine to heaven, a little bit of heaven opened up and the sky came to us. The rain stopped and the sky cleared, and the afternoon suddenly brimmed with sunlight. A sunbeam streamed through the big glass window of the serenity suite and bathed Aunt Florentine’s alabasters white casket in golden light.” (138). I loved this quote because I could really picture this in my head. I was able to be a part of the story and see what the characters in the story were seeing. The most heart warming part of the story is when Comfort saved Peach from the flood. Despite all the negative feelings she had towards him he was still family. It really hurt my heart when she lost her dog because I am such an animal lover. I really liked the end of the book where Peach says “Comfort it is Thanksgiving and I have come to see you” I thought that was so sweet and at this point you feel like they are finally family.

Classroom connections: I think that this is a fairly easy novel to read and it would be great in talking about how to death with death and emotion. I also think that it would be great when learning about dialect in different regions of the country. The book talks about sweet tea, peanut butter and banana sandwiches and corn bread. You could do a lesson on comparing and contrasting different parts of the United States.