The River of Birds

Winner of the 2021 Gold Moonbeam Award for Health Issues "A moving and beautiful tale about a family, a loss, and the natural world that binds us all together. With exquisite tenderness, Moore reveals the persistent, transcendent power of love." -Lily King, bestselling author A gentle, honest story of a child who learns about the enduring force of love in the face of grief. A young child and a grandmother share a love of birds. Every day after school they watch the birds outside her window and draw them with colored pencils, the scent of ginger tea hanging in the air. When they find a dead goldfinch outside the window one day, the grandmother teaches her grandchild about the enduring strength of love that continues even when a body is no longer living. This lesson returns to the child in a powerful dream after the grandmother dies-a dream that becomes a healing gift for the child's grandfather. Gorgeously illustrated by wildlife artist and illustrator Michael Boardman, Libby Moore's The River of Birds is a gentle story that looks honestly at grief and love. The beautiful themes and lush illustrations will bring comfort to readers of all ages. The book includes a guide put together by clinical psychologist Mary Plouffe, PhD, that provides practical resources for adults who are supporting grieving children.

About the Author :
While Libby Moore spent her childhood roaming the meadows and forests of northeast Ohio, her heart and spirit grew up canoeing and camping in the north woods of Ontario. She earned a Master of Forestry from Yale University, where she also met her husband. She went to work as a forest ecologist in midcoast Maine, and they settled on an old saltwater farm, where they raised three children. Every winter they watched birds from the kitchen window for Cornell University's Project FeederWatch. The idea for The River of Birds came to Libby in a dream, just like the dream of the story's protagonist. Libby was a Reiki practitioner and worked with life-force energy to offer healing and support to her clients. Her work has been published in the Christian Science Monitor. The River of Birds was her first book.

Review :
“A touchingly simple story with a profound and poignant message of reassurance . . . that our loved ones live on in the most exquisite of ways." —Patrice Karst, bestselling author of The Invisible String "Losing someone we love is one of the hardest experiences we will have to go through. Books are a wonderful way to help children understand difficult topics like this in a safe space. The River of Birds, written by Libby Moore and illustrated by Michael Boardman, does a marvelous job of showing the wonderful memories that a grandma and grandchild share and the grief the child feels after his grandma passes away. Libby Moore says it beautifully in these lines: 'When a living thing dies, its body stops working. But its love is still here with us, in everything and everyone it has ever loved.' This heartfelt book reminds us that it's okay to feel sadness and grief, and that even though our loved one is no longer physically with us, their love remains with us forever.” —Joanna Rowland, author of The Memory Box: A Book About Grief “This is a beautiful story about love, loss, healing, the role of a grandmother in her grandchild’s life, and how even in her death, her impact lives on for eternally. Children aged five to nine will cherish this thoughtful tale the most.” –Portland Book Review "What a beautiful, important little book this is! Simply told and gloriously illustrated, The River of Birds shows grieving children that loss is universal, that memory is a balm, and that the burden of grief need not be carried alone. And it’s not just for children; as a recently bereaved grown-up, I found it immensely comforting." —Monica Wood, author of The One-in-a-Million Boy The River of Birds, by Libby Moore, is a lovely book filled with poignant messages to be read with a grieving child. I love the use of drawings of birds (angel messengers in symbology) as a way to help children understand loss and to heal their hearts. This book shows that although people die, love continues. Kudos to Michael Boardman for his beautiful illustrations. Highly recommended." —Virginia A. Simpson, PhD, FT, founder of the Mourning Star Center for Grieving Children, and author of The Space Between: A Memoir of Mother-Daughter Love at the End of Life "We live in a culture that hides death away. No wonder we grow to be adults who fear it so. What if instead as children we learned and talked about death the way we do other facets of life? Libby Moore's book is a tender, honest story for children of all ages which gently normalizes death and grieving as part of the human experience. It is a universal tale that will speak to all families."—Mary Harkins Becker, MD, Palliative Care Physician "Libby Moore manages to both crack open and fill our hearts with this wondrous story of the life force, flowing through deed, word and love; continuing, always continuing. Sensitive watercolors perfectly compliment the narrative, a balm for the familiar ache of anyone who's lost someone dear."—Julie Zickefoose, author of Saving Jemima: Life and Love with a Hard-luck Jay "Libby Moore’s The River of Birds is so full of beauty and wisdom that you’ll want to read it over and over. It is an incredibly resonant, deeply knowing celebration of the cycle of life. The story’s child-narrator looks at the sky in wide-eyed wonder while extraordinary flocks of migrating birds ride 'high in the darkness where they are safer, lit only by the stars and the moon.' The book walks us through different phases of grief and lands us firmly on hope and on the belief that in the end we are all part of one 'great flow.' All of us streaming together—winter birds and spring birds and beloved people who we may have lost, but who never really leave us. Because if we look at the sky they are 'everywhere.'" —Susan Conley, author of Landslide