Her Mother's Face by Roddy Doyle and Freya Blackwood

Her Mother's Face
Roddy Doyle (Author)
Freya Blackwood (Illustrator)
Arthur A. Levine Books
An Imprint of Scholastic
ISBN 9780439815017

This is an amazing story of a young girl learning to come to terms with her mother's death. Siobhan is like most little girls - she runs, and plays and has fun. But at ten she can no longer remember her mother's face; she is sad about this but cannot talk to her father, as he too is overcome with his grief. One day in the park she meets a strange lady, and the woman tells her to look in the mirror and she will see her mother there in her own face.

This is a magnificent book. Books written for children that deal with grief are either very good or very bad. This one is very good. Roddy Doyle tells a great story, and in the tradition of great Irish writers, he is a master storyteller and this is truly a masterpiece. The illustrations by Freya Blackwood are done in a simple understated style. Yet they bring a great depth to the story.

So pick it up and journey with Siobhan as she grows up and becomes a mother herself, yet always with the memory of her own mother. It is a good story to share with the children in your life, especially if they have lost someone close.

(First published in Imprint 2009-07-24.)