Each Little Bird That Sings By Deborah Wiles

Reading Level: 4
Genre: Realistic
Awards: E.B. White Read Aloud Award, Finalist at 2005 National Book Awards

Comfort Snowberger is surrounded by death living in a funeral home and she is used to it being in her family because as her Uncle Edisto says "Everybody's kind, Comfort."  But never before has death hit the Snowberger family like when Uncle Edisto dies and then Great-great aunt Florentine die within a few months of each other.  Comfort writes the "Life Notices" both Uncle Edisto and Great-great aunt Florentine.  Then during all the craziness preparing for the biggest funeral the Snowberger's funeral home has ever seen Comfort's best friend Declaration begins acting funny.  At a time when Comfort doesn't want to have to put on the smiles that she normally does as a part of a family that owns a funeral home Comfort also has to deal with too many things to count.

I think that this story is a great coming of age story and could facilitate a great discussion on dealing with death and hard situations in your life.  I also really like the ideas of the "Life Notices" that Comfort writes.  I would have my students write "Life Notices" on famous people that we have been talking about in class.  This could be scientists that pertain to the content we are studying in science or historical figures that we are talking about in social studies.  This writing exercise would introduce students to writing in the style of a newspaper article.