Gone, but Not Forgotten: Old Pearl by Wendy Wahman

Theo enjoyed feeding the birds at the park. He tried to toss the seeds to all the birds, but he especially liked...

THE BIRD WITH THE RAGGEDY WING.

but the quicker birds always got there first and got all the seeds. Theo worked his way through the rest of the birds and told the bird with the raggedy wing...

"YOU'RE A TOUGH OLD BIRD."

Theo put down a little pile of birdseed in front of the old bird. A big dog barked at them.

"ALL FOR YOU," THEO SAID.

But all the dogs kept barking, so Theo brought the old bird inside to his old playpen, fed her birdseed there, and named her Pearl. Pearl liked living in a safe house.

EVERY MORNING THEY SHARED APPLES WITH PEANUT BUTTER.

But one morning Pearl didn't wake up.

Theo did not want to go the the park anymore. But as more mornings came and went, Theo changed. His sadness faded and was replaced with good memories, in Wendy Wahman's Old Pearl, which deals gently with loss, especially the loss of a pet, with the traditional teaching that "it's better to have loved and lost than never to loved at all." Pair this one with Margaret Wise Brown's classic story, The Dead Bird, lovingly re-illustrated recently for a new edition by Caldecott artist Christian Robinson.