I Remember Miss Perry (review)

Stevie's unsettling first day at his new school is rescued by his wonderful young teacher, who recognizes his stomachache as first-day jitters and expresses her "fondest wish" that he have lunch with her. Her habit of having a fondest wish each day makes her adoring students compare her to a fairy-tale princess; they eagerly comply with her fondest wishes, whether they be for the class to quiet down, to quit picking on one other, to plant daffodils around the flagpole, or to dress up like bees and buzz to the principal's office to wish her a happy birthday. One tragic morning, however, Miss Perry doesn't appear in class; when the parents of the children arrive, the principal tells them that she has been killed in a car accident. The questions the students ask—"Is that why she isn't in school today?" "Will she be back to school tomorrow?" "Will we ever see her again?"—reflect a developmentally appropriate response to the dawning awareness of the finality of death. The next day, the children process her death through remembering their own favorite fondest wishes of Miss Perry's and by making up some of their own on her behalf. Jorisch's busy watercolors depict a multicultural class of hip, contemporary students whose active energies are clearly engaged by their teacher's many enthusiasms. Their grief subdues those energies, with their postures managing to reflect multiple responses as they look first to their parents, and then to one another and their own memories for comfort. Though it is next to impossible to get through this book without crying, it is not because Brisson or Jorisch overplay the sentiment; rather, text and illustration work together to create an effective picture of the loss of a beloved teacher. This stands alongside Edwards' Stinky Stern Forever (BCCB 12/05) as a moving, realistic picture of what happens when death invades a formerly safe and happy place.