The Purple Balloon

April 16, 2007
Raschka (The Hello, Goodbye Window
) broaches the topic of death in this solemn book, crafted for terminally ill and/or grieving children. Filmy balloons, potato-printed in muted watercolor on beige backgrounds, drift over the cover and endpapers; balloon heads, with facial features limned in dots of ink and string-lines for bodies, take on the roles of families, friends and professionals. The fragile but buoyant balloon image comes from art therapy, as an author's note explains: "When a child becomes aware of his or her pending death and is given the opportunity to 'draw your feelings,' he or she will often draw a blue or purple balloon, released and floating free." Raschka eases into his distressing subject by first depicting an old person's lined face, on a green balloon, and a child's face on a red balloon. When the elderly person dies, the green tint changes to lavender, the face becomes peaceful and the balloon's string curves and lifts to shape two open arms or angel wings. The predictable death sets up the second act: "There is only one thing/ harder to talk about than/ an old person dying—/ a young person dying." Concerned friends, therapists, doctors and relatives cluster around to support the sinking red-balloon child, whose eyes grow heavy. "Good help makes leaving easier," the text asserts, as the child's gently smiling face looks out from an ascendant lavender balloon. Without going into specifics, Raschka acknowledges pain and fear, and provides a "What You Can Do to Help" list. This evocative, nondenominational book strives to comfort those at hospices and hospitals. All ages.

June 1, 2007
Gr 1-4 -"No one likes to talk about dying. It's hard work." Yet this simple, honest treatment is an effective vehicle for discussing the "one thing harder to talk about than an old person dyinga young person dying." Taking his cue from terminally ill children who, an introductory note explains, often express their feelings by drawing a free-floating purple or blue balloon, Raschka depicts balloon characters using potato and wood prints rendered in watercolor. Through a few masterful strokes, they become an elderly dying person and those dear to him, or the subject of this narrative, a dying red balloon child and his family and friends. Faces, all focused on the child, express concern, tearful sorrow, and support. Balloon strings encircle child and parents in love, twist to join the youngster to those around him, and curve to become hands reaching out in comfort and reassurance. "Good help makes leaving easier," the text reads. Streaked watercolor background washes change color with the mood, moving from blue to yellow on the final page describing "what you can do to help." Raschka's brief text avoids sentimentality and didacticism and is a good choice for those who want to provide assistance to children about this difficult subject.Marianne Saccardi, formerly at Norwalk Community College, CT

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 1, 2007
Dying is the subject of this sensitive and somber book intended for terminally ill children and their families and friends. The simple narration begins, "No one likes to talk about dying. Its hard work." The focus is first on how support from those around us can help "make dying not so hard" for an older person. The same case is then made for a child who faces death, concluding with "Good help makes dying less hard. Good help makes leaving easier." The illustrations are appropriately subdued, with balloons as the characters, all of them given loving and supportive faces and postures. The balloons representing the two who are dying morph from their original colors to shades of purple. A message from the author explains why he uses the purple balloons as a symbol. The book ends with suggestions on how to help a friend who is terminally ill. Raschka has turned a tough subject into a sensitive book that could be a useful tool for the right child with the right adult at the right time.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)