Popi’s All Souls Song by C.K. Malone and illustrated by Shelly Swann is due mid September 2024. I was able to find an online reader copy and I am curious about the final product. I think reading online made me “miss” some important pieces of the story. There is a small bump near the end that did not flow for me. However, overall it is an interesting story that takes a familiar topic (the death of a loved one) and handles it with love, care and has a fresh take on things.
We start this bittersweet story of dealing with loss (the beloved grandfather passes before the story starts) with seeing the grandmother and granddaughter preparing for their traditional All Souls Day walk through the village to sing to remember those lost. The narrator, the granddaughter, is bitter: why must this do this when Popi is no longer with them? Why should they sing for the man who lost his son five years ago? Why is signing for a dog more important than remembering Popi? And patiently, her grandmother answers how they are honoring their lost one, how Popi would want them to help others because it is not us to judge how long to grieve or who is important enough. It’s not until the grandchild sees how it is affecting the grandmother does she find a way to help the living too. In the end, there is also the light of hope.
The illustrations have a unique feeling, allowing them to be both somber and even encouraging. The softness of the tone of the text is countered by strong, deep, darker colors and the images of winter, but is never harsh. Things are a smidgen cartoon like, a bit younger looking, still works well overall. And using All Souls Day as the starting point is a fresh detail from other books about grief. 