Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan

Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan
Buy Edward's Eyes by Patricia MacLachlan at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: Confident Readers
Reviewer: Jill Murphy
Summary: A gentle, loving book about bereavement. Beautifully written with great affection for the characters, it will engage and comfort any child coming to terms with the full meaning of the circle of life.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 128	Date: 3 March 2008
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Childrens Books
ISBN: 1847382657
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Edward is a lovely child. He's ever-so-slightly eccentric - one of those children who picks up adult expressions and uses them, but not one of those children who sounds priggish and precocious. Edward makes people smile. Everyone likes him, but nobody likes him as much as his older brother Jake.

Edward has been Jake's especial care ever since his parents brought him home from the hospital a few days after he was born. Jake fell in love with the tiny baby with its gold-flecked blue eyes. He took care of Edward; sitting with him, reading to him, indulging him. Now eight, Edward's passion is baseball, and Jake faithfully watches every backyard match. Edward can throw a perfect knuckleball - a pitch that just cannot be hit.

This is a sweet story about a brother's love. In the middle of a big, energetic, loving family, everyone has the one they're closest to. And MacLachlan paints such a nostalgic picture of a family summer. It's tremendously homely and comforting and it's wonderfully observed. Told through Jake's eyes, this summer evokes precisely the way I remember the good times from my own childhood - what matters and what doesn't, what gets stored away and remembered and what doesn't.

It's also a story of love and loss. Some things you just can't hold onto, no matter how precious they are. And sometimes life brings you pain so sharp that you don't think you'll ever get past it. But get past it you do and it doesn't mean you're disloyal, or you have to bury your memories. This is lesson difficult to learn, but it's gently taught in this kindly book.

It's beautifully written in gentle, but precise prose. What could have been emotionally-demanding is actually tremendously understanding and cathartic. Recommended for keen readers of eight to ten, especially sensitive souls and those who have suffered some sort of loss.

My thanks to the nice people at Simon & Schuster for sending the book.

If they enjoyed Edward's Eyes, they might also enjoy The Peppermint Pig by Nina Bawden, which also approaches grief - this time for an animal.

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