The Heart and the Bottle

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Use the first line of the book (‘Once there was a girl, much like any other’) to start your own story. How will it be similar / different to this one? The book, The Heart and the Bottle, written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers (2010), wisely begins, “Once there was a girl much like any other…”. The story is about someone and something common—someone and something understandable, relatable. As parents we should teach our children that death and loss is that ubiquitous albatross which is as real as life and happiness; sooner or later it will come. The only thing we can do is live in the present and not whine about the past or anticipate much of the future. Jeffers anatomises loss and the processes of grief with an honesty and ingenuity that will move adults and children of any age.” Telegraph

Beautifully produced and profoundly moving… It made me cry, and I’m pretty sure I won’t be the only one.” The Irish Times

This book by prolific children’s author Oliver Jeffers provides the context for children to understand the difficult topics of loss and grief. The narrative will help open discussion around how to deal with the emotions of losing something or someone we love. There are strong links to PSHE and a focus on holding on to hope to overcome hard times. Links and themes:

Life and death are part of life; much like day and night. Without one the other is not possible; it’s like The Cause And Effect Theory of Philosophy which focusses on light-oriented thinking. What different types of punctuation has the author used? Are there any types of punctuation that he did not use? Why? This is the best picture book about complicated grief I’ve ever read, and one of the best books about it on the subject, period. It’s lovely in every way. It would make a wonderful present for children who’ve lost a loved one, or someone of any age who’s suffered a loss, both recently and long ago. It’s also a great bibliotherapy book for children who are grieving. But if grief is so disorienting and crushing an emotion for adults, how are unprepared little hearts expected to handle its weight? The little girl cannot, and so she doesn’t. It's the story of a little girl, "much like any other, whose head was filled with all the curiosities of the world." Her grandfather takes her to the forest, the beach, and listens to her stories and all her many questions. But then one day his armchair is empty.urn:lcp:heartbottle0000jeff:epub:431fb011-ca85-4b2e-9874-ef902f53d26e Foldoutcount 0 Identifier heartbottle0000jeff Identifier-ark ark:/13960/t3914qp2w Invoice 1652 Isbn 9780399254529 Lccn 2009026404 Ocr tesseract 5.0.0-beta-20210815 Ocr_detected_lang en Ocr_detected_lang_conf 1.0000 Ocr_detected_script Latin Ocr_detected_script_conf 0.8456 Ocr_module_version 0.0.13 Ocr_parameters -l eng Old_pallet IA-WL-1200051 Openlibrary_edition Look at the sketches on the inside covers of the book. Can you think of some captions / speech bubbles / thought bubbles for each of them?

Jeffers tells the story of a little girl, “much like any other,” whose expansive and exuberant curiosity her father fuels by reading to her all sorts of fascinating books about the sea and the stars and the wonders of our world. The story is about a young girl who is curious about her world, engaged, creative, dreamy, joyful, and who has a loving bond with an older person (someone who appears to be akin to a grandparent based on the book’s illustrations). The story is also about the girl’s experience of loss when the older person is no longer there, of the emotional pain she feels, and of how she copes with that pain, of what follows.This book helps in that regard. The story is simple: a little girl grows up with her grandfather who frequently reads to her, goes with her to play in the snow etc. Until one day he is no longer there and she needs to find a way to deal with the loss. It's also about having had her grandfather in her life shapes her as an adult later. The message of the book, despite some probably describing it as "dark", is actually uplifting - like I said, because it gives you a way to cope with the unthinkable. Oliver Jeffers graduated from The University of Ulster in 2001 with First Class honours. His outstanding talent has been recognised by several high-profile awards, including the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize Gold Award. ‘Lost and Found’ animation was broadcast on Channel 4. Oliver lives and works in Brookyln, New York. • An inquisitive little girl, who is enchanted by the world around her, is badly shaken when she loses someone she loves. The Heart and the Bottle is one such story told through the eyes of a child; it tells us that as parents the greatest lesson we can teach our children is conceptualising loss and pain: from as trivial as losing a toy in school to losing someone dear to your life, because the inevitable cannot be fortified.