The Rough Patch

by Brian Lies

Evan and his dog do everything together, from eating ice cream to caring for their award-winning garden, which grows big and beautiful. One day the unthinkable happens: Evan’s dog dies. Heartbroken, Evan destroys the garden and everything in it. The ground becomes overgrown with prickles and thorns, and Evan embraces the chaos.

But beauty grows in the darkest of places, and when a twisting vine turns into an immense pumpkin, Evan is drawn out of his misery and back to the county fair, where friendships—old and new—await.

Genres: Picture Books, Death, Grief, Animals, Childrens, Friendship, Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published August 14, 2018

About the author

I was born in 1963 in Princeton, New Jersey, which back then was a quiet college town, surrounded by old farmland slowly giving way to housing developments. I spent a lot of time building dams and forts in the woods across the street with my best friend, inventing things, and writing and drawing with my older sister. At various times during my childhood, we had newts, gerbils and rabbits as pets. When I was in fifth grade, an author and illustrator visited my school, and I was amazed that one could have a job writing and drawing. I wished it could be my job! But I didn’t think I was good enough at either writing or drawing to even try.

I had always liked to draw, though, and kept doing it just for fun. During high school, I also painted with oil paints and made stained glass windows. I actually sold some, too—my first taste of self-employment. I went to Brown University after high school, where I studied Psychology and British and American Literature. I began to think about what I really wanted to do for a career, and what I really wanted was something that involved art. So after graduation from college in 1985, I moved to Boston to study drawing and painting at the Boston Museum School (also known as the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston).

At the Museum School, I started getting paintings in exhibitions and won a few prizes, and then was able to get political illustrations published in the Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe.

Suddenly I had a career as an editorial and political illustrator, working with a lot of magazines and newspapers. In 1989, I illustrated my first book, Flatfoot Fox and the Case of the Missing Eye, with Houghton Mifflin Company in Boston.

Since then, I've illustrated some twenty books, including my newest one, Bats at the Library, which I also wrote. My other three written-and-illustrated books to date are the New York Times bestseller, Bats at the Beach, Hamlet and the Enormous Chinese Dragon Kite, and Hamlet and the Magnificent Sandcastle.

I also get lots of work published in Cricket, Spider, Ladybug and Babybug magazines, and I enjoy visiting schools to work with students on writing and illustrating stories.

I live in a seaside town in Massachusetts with my wife, my daughter, two cats and a hamster. My hobbies are bicycling, woodworking, and tending a big vegetable garden behind the house. I’m very interested in old-fashioned food preparation, too, and sometimes make my own cheese, kimchi and other things (including a drink called switchel, which I kind of liked but which everybody else in my family thought was nasty).

I also read a lot, which I think is important—it keeps my imagination going, and leaves me feeling much more relaxed than television does!

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this Book. This book is amazing.

I know Caldecott is about the artwork and not as much the story, but I’ve read all the books for this year and this is the best book of the year, in my opinion. It should have won. It’s one of my all time favorite books.

I can’t believe how simple and easy and straight forward this is. This is a healing journey. This book touched me deeply. I recognize this journey as I have had to take it. I do want to talk about the plot. You really need to read the book, so


SPOILER AHEAD *********




Fox has a beautiful life with his beloved pet dog. They do everything together. Their lives are all about gardening. They are content and happy and life is good. Then, the pet dog dies. It’s straight forward and well done and sad, but the story moves on. The fox is broken by this. In a rage, he hacks apart his garden till nothing is left. Then, the weeds come and he wants the garden to feel desolate and lonely, mirroring how he feels. These weeds grow and the place looks like the Addams family. It’s depressing. (side note: I love weeds and I do love a weed garden and it can be pretty too, but I had a mix with weeds and cultivated plants.)

Then a pumpkin vine comes in under the fence and fox is about to hack it up when he sees that it is weed-like. It’s viney an prickly and a little weird looking. So the plant grows and flourishes. A huge pumpkin grows and he can take it to the fair. He meets people and talks with people again and life starts to feel normal again. He begins to wake up. He wins 3rd place and he has a choice - take a 10$ prize or a puppy. He’s going for the money when he looks into the box and the last frame is see him in his truck with the puppy by his side going home.

This is the healing journey y’all. I’ve been in this place of pain and wanting to suffer and experience this. I have been there and it’s so painful. Energy medicine has helped me get through these times and family too of course. Brian Lies captures this part of life perfectly. I’m so impressed. Brian Lies is going on my ‘must read list.’

The kids loved the fox having a pet thing. They were very sad when the dog died and when he destroyed the garden the niece said, ‘Oh No’. They loved the puppy and the nephew got up on the bed and jumped up and down saying ‘Yes”. He was invested in this simple story. The nephew gave this 5 stars. He said he ‘feeled all the emotions in the story.’ The niece thought this was a good story and it touched her. She loved seeing the fox at the fair riding rides and having fun again. She gave this 4 stars, so high praise in our family.

This is our last Caldecott Book. We have read all but the 4 I couldn’t get together. Our journey is complete. The niece is starting 3rd grade and will be reading her own books and Harry Potter as the family continues that. So, having this book be last is amazing as it’s so good.

This has actually been quite a journey for me and I have loved reading to both kids. I know it will happen now and again. It’s been a blessing to read to them.

This is an amazing book about the process of grief and healing and it’s important. If it’s up to me, it would be a classic story that everyone reads. It’s important to know.

Peace

[Tina Haigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really nice book that deals with different stages of grief. It's not overly sad and it's really easy for kids to understand. I really like that it doesn't get too complicated or preachy, and it shows the passing of time, instead of instantly replacing what was lost. The artwork was charming and colorful, which was lovely. Lastly I'd like to point out that I've seen some negative reviews, simply because the main character is anthropomorphic and has a pet. I mean honestly, if you don't like anthropomorphic animals, you really shouldn't be reading children's picture books. Anyways, I highly recommend this to kids ages 4 to 12, and anyone else who likes picture books, unless of course, you are an uptight ninny. In that case, stay away.

[Starjustin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful story of love, loss, recovery, and new beginnings.
I just loved this children's book and the bright and colorful illustrations.

[Tj Shay · Rating 5 out of 5]

As another reviewer stated, this book will break your heart and mend it right back up again (Thanks, Aliza) After reading this book to some of my third graders, we had a great conversation about the need for sad picture books. They overwhelming thought there was a great need for books that delve into emotional topics. One boy said that if you hadn't lost someone that you loved, that a book could help you learn how to cope with it. If you had, it would help you get through it. I think that's so important.

Too many adults think that kids are fragile. They are resilient beyond any adult you know. However, they need help navigating...they need to know that they will be ok and it's ok to be sad and angry. This book is the best road map ever for that.

I truly love this book and I think it's so important. Believe in kids, they will show you the way.

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

While author/illustrator Brian Lies certainly does on the surface tell a very much poignant story of loss and the stages through which one often must go whilst dealing with this (from sadness to anger and finally to acceptance and starting again to appreciate life, and in The Rough Patch, for Fox to once again also consider a new pet dog), and albeit that I consider the accompanying illustrations adept and lushly rendered (and can therefore also understand the Caldecott Honour destination for The Rough Patch), personally, I just do not and have never all that much enjoyed stories of anthropomorphic animals and especially of animals wearing distinctly human clothing, of animals speaking and behaving like humans would and do. And with this in mind, I have actually found The Rough Patch, while from a narrational point of view both heartbreaking and at the end also majorly heartwarming, rather off-putting to and for me at best (and yes, especially with regard to the foxes being visually depicted as all and sundry wearing human garb, which I do indeed find aesthetically uncomfortable, even creepy, and always have at that), not to mention that I also do tend to consider the entire concept of a fox having a pet dog more than a trifle strange and potentially problematic (considering that they are both cannines).

Combined with the quite inherently negative attitude that author/illustrator Brian Lies seems to present towards ANY AND ALL weeds (and that somehow, weeds supposedly are simply and utterly horrible with no exceptions seemingly allowed), while I have indeed mildly enjoyed The Rough Patch, I can and will also only rate it with two stars maximum. For there just is something about anthropomorphic animals dressed in human clothing that has always quite massively rubbed me the wrong proverbial way, and the entire weeds are by nature unilaterally itchy, sickly, foul smelling, spiky and nasty attitude, this does most certainly not at all agree with my psyche (as to me, The Rough Patch with its negativity towards weeds also presents an attitude that weeds should not even be allowed to exist, that they need to generally be destroyed and eradicated, a common enough attitude, too be sure, but one that increasingly tends to infuriate me the older and the more into simply letting nature be nature I get).

[Kris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this short picture book that celebrates gardening, respects grief and has just delightful pictures. The fox's gardening boot with the holes for his claws just charmed me to tears.

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evan and his dog did everything together, from listening to music to playing. Most of all, they liked to work in Evan's lovely garden. When his canine companion died, the fox withdrew from all of his usual activities, eventually destroying his garden in his anger at the universe. As weeds grew high and poisonous plants invaded, he encouraged everything dark and destructive to grow. Until, that is, a pumpkin began to grow, setting in motion a series of events that would reintroduce Evan to his other friends, at the local fair, and even lead to a new member of his family...

Highly recommended to me by a colleague, The Rough Patch offers a poignant depiction of loss and the grieving process, pairing a sensitively-written tale with beautiful artwork. Author/illustrator Brian Lies, perhaps best known as the creator of the Bats at the Beach picture-book series, captures the way that anger so frequently accompanies grief in his story, while his colorful illustrations, done in acrylic, oil and colored pencil, capture the emotional register of each scene. The most poignant moment, for me, was the one in which Evan, discovering his dog, presumably dead in his little bed, reached out a tentative hand. I did find it a little distracting that Evan and his compatriots were all depicted as foxes, as I felt (despite foxes being a particular interest of mine) that it didn't really add to the story, and was occasionally distracting for me. Leaving that aside, this is an engaging, thoughtful tale about losing a loved one, reacting with anger and grief, and eventually, healing.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

Evan and his dog do everything together. They especially love to garden together. Then his dog dies. Evan is sad and angry and lets his garden go. Among the weeds grows a pumpkin and that pumpkin helps Evan toward healing. A story about loss and recovery, with vivid illustrations.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently lost the best animal friend I've ever had and, after what seemed like a too-short period of grieving, adopted another pet. This book perfectly articulates the anger, the bizarre-feeling of living in the world when your friend isn't around, and the resignation to care for another one, almost without thinking about it. God, this was so lovely and made me sob in such a deep, true way.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh sure, just rip my heart out. I didn’t need it anyway. :(

The ending made me feel better.

[Missy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Be prepared. The title is The Rough Patch, after all. Lies’ story follows a familiar path (“uh oh, wh-wh-what's going to happen to the dog?), but it goes deeper. The emotions are raw, but never maudlin. The illustrations are significant*, telling the story eloquently and rewarding close and repeated viewing. So, while you might find the rough patches challenging, stick with the book. It ends in a good place.

*In fact, IMO The Rough Patch should be on a short list for The Caldecott Award, the criteria for which is:
1. Excellence of execution in the artistic technique employed;
2. Excellence of pictorial interpretation of story, theme, or concept;
3. Appropriateness of style of illustration to the story, theme or concept;
4. Delineation of plot, theme, characters, setting, mood or information through the pictures;
5. Excellence of presentation in recognition of a child audience.

[Evan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh man...the tears! Exquisite picture book depicting the grief that comes from losing a pet. And the fox's name is Evan!!

[Chance Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great googly-moogly, this book knocked me on my ass. Beautiful art accompanies a beautiful, mature story of loss, grief, and recovery. I cried at the end.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

GAHHHHHH!!!!! Heartbreaking and beautiful.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I needed even as a 20 year old. I just lost my cat a few weeks ago, and this book was fitting for me. It shows how we act when we are grieving the death of someone we love, and beautiful but sad symbolism at the state of his garden as he goes through it... and that once we heal more, we can once again create, grow, and love. Incredibly touching for anyone who gets a chance to read it.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

We all have or will have times in our life when we will go through a rough patch, especially after the death of a loved one and this book shows that it is okay to do so. It is okay to hold up in your house, it is okay to destroy the reminders if that's what helps you. But this book also shows us that life will also be okay to live again. That life will find away to grow in the weeds, that light will shine in the dark and that one day while things are not the same and will never be exactly as it was that it will go on. You will find something that will make you go on, to motivate you. That one day you will find hope again.

[Alexandra Calaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

SHELVED AS DON'T READ AT THE DESK BECAUSE YOU'LL CRY.

What a great book. Grief is something that should and ultimately must be honored, one way or another. There is no time limit on it. It doesn't matter who you lose or how long you've known and loved them. It doesn't even matter if it's a pet.

Sit with your grief. Let it grow around you. Tend to it carefully, even though it is prickly and bad-smelling and not nice to look at.

It will never be the same, but good things will grow again.

[Erth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful children's book - deals with emotions and losing someone

[Lygeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Πιο αληθινό παιδικό βιβλίο που να μιλάει για το θάνατο δε νομίζω να υπάρχει. Δεν υποβιβάζει τη βαρύτητα της απώλειας, δεν τρομάζει όμως και τα παιδιά. Δειχνει ότι η ζωή συνεχίζεται- όχι ίδια, αλλά και πάλι μπορεί να είναι όμορφη και αισιόδοξη..

[Phoebe Ledster · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unexpectedly losing something close to you can launch you into a turbulent and dark journey, which can often be overshadowed with sadness with it looking and feeling as if there is no hope to be found. Lies explores this tremendously well in 'The Rough Patch' never underestimating the emotional intelligence and ability of the reader. Evan, an anthropomorphic fox who loves to garden, falls into a cruel darkness when his best friend, a dog, sadly passes away. The sudden harshness of the breathtaking illustrations completely hit me as a reader and I felt extreme sadness for this character. Evan's garden begins to overgrow into something ugly and brutal which is a reflection of how lost he is and I completely emphasised with him. Now, I cry at books... a lot... not even when they are sad! However, Lies' talented exploration into just how hard it can be to deal with the lose of something and the brutal and hard emotions that can come with this had me in complete tears. What made it worse was when hope started to gradually creep in- much like it does in real life. I felt genuinely happy for Evan knowing that he was making his own way out of that rough patch. This story is extremely touching, beautiful and clever. It showcases how grief can be both a sudden and gentle process which should not be rushed or hidden.

[Hymerka · Rating 5 out of 5]

Завдяки таким книжкам я помічаю, як змінюється український книжковий ринок. Десять років тому годі було уявити, щоб у книгарнях можна було знайти книжки для найменших діток про смерть. Раніше в нас уже вийшли на цю тему «Мій дідусь був черешнею» у «Видавництві Старого Лева», «Серце, плач» у «Видавництві», «Плутон» у «Віваті». Власне, з останньою найбільше спільного у «Лиса Тимка», адже обидві книжечки-картинки розповідають про таку болісну, але, на жаль, незворотню втрату домашнього улюбленця.

Лис Тимко щасливо мешкає зі своїм песиком. Разом вони плекають свій прекрасний сад. Та після смерті свого чотирилапого друга Тимко геть занедбує садочок. Замість красивих квітів він засаджує його бридкими бур'янами. Це чудовий, простий і зрозумілий символ туги і скорботи, які огортають думки Тимка. Одного разу крізь паркан пробивається гарбузовий паросток і лис вирішує зберегти його. Зрештою паросток віддячується лисові велетенським гарбузом-чемпіоном, з яким лис їде на ярмарок і перемагає у конкурсі, а як нагороду йому пропонують взяти собі цуценя. Можливо, це стане початком нового етапу в житті нашого лиса.

Книжка має розкішні ілюстрації та делікатно опрацьовує складну тему, тому я її беззастережно рекомендую. Шрифт великого розміру, тому «Лис Тимко» добре підійде для самостійного читання найменшенькими.

[Melki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This one delivers a stunning gut-punch, and manages to be both devastating AND uplifting.
The author's illustrations are amazing!






A sad, yet beautiful reminder that life does go on . . .

[Jan Polep · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bittersweet picture book for the preschool - 3 crowd about love, loss, and moving on. Evan does everything with his dog and is completely devastated when he dies. He rips up the garden in one of his miserable moments only to find a reason to leave some of his grief behind and discover hope at the County Fair. Great book for some great discussions. Just have a k.leenex handy

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh me oh my. This wonderful book explores the feelings one has when faced with losing someone you love.

[R. G. Nairam]

I can't take animals who own animals as pets seriously.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evan and his dog did everything. When the dog dies, Evan becomes embittered as a result of his grief, withdrawing from society and neglecting things which formerly interested him. Then he allowed a pumpkin to grow, and Evan's life changes. Cute book, but the illustrations are not as endearing as I'd expect in a Caldecott honor book.

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was not prepared for this book. Our dog died almost two years ago, and Evan's journey in this children's book was very close to our own -- including the hopeful bit at the end. A beautiful, subtle book about loss, grief, and recovery.

[Agnė · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 out of 5

Brian Lies' picturebook about the loss and the process of grief is both heartbreaking and heartwarming, simple yet extremely moving.

Ten pages in I almost bawled my eyes out, and once again at the end of the book. How many books can do that in just 40 pages?

Illustrations are simply gorgeous: the attention to details, the use of light, the emotions. THE EMOTIONS. And the last page turn is priceless.





However, I did find it a bit weird that the main character, a fox, keeps a dog as a pet. On the other hand, his fox boots are awesome :)

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

This turned me (and my inner child) off right off the bat with the fox wearing clothes and being a companion to a dog. Just, no. I think the rest of the story's ok, but I just couldn't appreciate it given that character choice.

[Bookishrealm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Update - Full Review on Blog: https://bookishrealmreviews.blogspot....

Oh goodness, I thought from the cover that it was just going to be about having a bad day, but I was so wrong. This is a picture that handles the emotions behind death very well. I think a lot of times we tell children that when we have loved ones (whether human or animal) that die that we will always feel sad. We rarely address the fact that there is a possibility that an individual will feel anger. And we don't teach that feeling this anger is okay, that it's natural, and that it's a part of the healing process. The wolf (I'm guessing that's what he was) was clearly and visibly angry and he spent some time relishing in his anger; however, with time he eventually let it go and was able to resume normal activities. This is a great picture book for anyone that is teaching children about the emotions behind death. It's also a great way to validate the feelings of a child that is experiencing death.