Rudi's Pond: A Tender Picture Book About Friendship and Death for Children

by Eve Bunting, Ronald Himler (Illustrator)

The young narrator's best friend, Rudi, is very sick, and it's hard for her to understand. When Rudi dies, the narrator and the other children in school help to build a pond by the big knobby oak to remember him by. A hummingbird feeder that Rudi made hangs by the pond, and one day a special hummingbird comes to visit. . . . Based on a true story, Rudi's Pond is an insightful book that will help young readers to deal with loss. Once again author Eve Bunting and illustrator Ronald Himler have combined their talents to create a memorable picture book.

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

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Also known as Evelyn Bolton and A.E. Bunting.

Anne Evelyn Bunting, better known as Eve Bunting, is an author with more than 250 books. Her books are diverse in age groups, from picture books to chapter books, and topic, ranging from Thanksgiving to riots in Los Angeles. Eve Bunting has won several awards for her works.

Bunting went to school in Ireland and grew up with storytelling. In Ireland, “There used to be Shanachies… the shanachie was a storyteller who went from house to house telling his tales of ghosts and fairies, of old Irish heroes and battles still to be won. Maybe I’m a bit of a Shanchie myself, telling stories to anyone who will listen.” This storytelling began as an inspiration for Bunting and continues with her work.

In 1958, Bunting moved to the United States with her husband and three children. A few years later, Bunting enrolled in a community college writing course. She felt the desire to write about her heritage. Bunting has taught writing classes at UCLA. She now lives in Pasadena, California.

Reviews

[Dea · Rating 5 out of 5]

I made a mistake and read this in the middle of work. It hits really hard about losing a best friend to sickness. And I’m just barely keeping the tears in. I will own this for my own collection.
If you know me, look at the hummingbird and replace it with a butterfly. I miss my best friend.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that can be used to help children dealing with death.

[Julie Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won't want to read this again; it's utterly depressing, but I wanted to have it shelved on my bookshelf in case someone asks for children's books about death and dying. That is what this is.

[Susan Siow · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another beautiful story from Eve Bunting.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary & A Thoughtful Review:
A beautifully written and illustrated book, tells the story of the eternal friendship between a young boy and girl. As neighbors, the narrator and her friend Rudi do all sorts of things together: have tea parties, play with dolls, go on hikes, paint her garden gate, make a hummingbird feeder, and even play computer games or color when Rudi is sick. Rudi, however, is very sick, as the narrator's mother explains, "Rudi was sinking and they'd taken him to the hospital...it means he's very, very ill...when Rudi was born there was something wrong with his heart. It's been getting worse." The young girl must deal with the frustration/anger of not being able to visit Rudi in the hospital, the reality and pain his death brings, and the memories left behind by this loss. Although Jane Yolen writes about a real, and somewhat painful topic, she approaches it with soft sense of compassion. She leaves her readers feeling hopeful and still filled with the bond of friendship between these two characters. After losing a very close family member at a young age, I connected with the the "horrible dream"-like feeling she describes the morning after Rudi dies. Death is a part of life, and I truly appreciate how Yolen's text opens the doors to it's reality in her book!

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Text set
Rudi’s Pond is a book about two children, the narrator of the story and her best friend, a little boy named Rudi. Rudi is very sick, which is difficult for his best friend to understand and cope with. When Rudi dies the children in school build a pond to remember him by. The narrator is left to grieve while trying to comprehend her feelings and the world around her.
While this is a hard topic for some students to read and comprehend, and I hope none of my students ever have to go through this, it is necessary to include in the classroom, not only to reach out to students who have gone through this, but also for students to understand how to deal with loss and sadness. The book teaches the reader the importance of being there for one another, which is something everyone must learn to do.

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tender look at coping when a child dies from the perspective of another child. This young girl's best friend, Rudi, has been sick since birth. Bunting takes us through their friendship - the normal and the adjustments they make when he's ill. Then, the young girl shares about Rudi being in the hospital and never seeing him again. The adults at home and school are sensitive and caring. The class builds a pond in his memory. She adds a personal touch - a hummingbird feeder Rudi and she built together. A hummingbird finds it the next day and every day after that. The author lets you decide if this bird is from Rudi or not.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story to share about death and loss. A young girl loses her best friend Rudi, but finds a meaningful way to grieve and honor his memory. Bunting plays on the special visitor (often a cardinal or butterfly) idea, but doesn’t push it too hard. The illustrations have a light and sketch like quality that fits with the story and gives it a nostalgic, childhood memory mood/setting/feel. The story was brief which I feel is good in this case, and although it’s obviously sad it didn’t feel too over the top sad to me.

[Ronnie Hobbs · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for dealing with death.

[SarahElizabeth Greenmyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one is a tear jerker! Would be very useful for a young classroom dealing with the death of a classmate.

[D.B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Review: Rudi’s Pond by Eve Bunting
by dmauldin53

Rudi’s Pond by Eve Bunting
Illustrated by Ronald Himler

In “Rudi’s Pond”, author Eve Bunting writes a touching story of life, death, and grief. The young narrator is a girl that grew up with Rudi as her friend. They lived on the same street, were friends at home, and friends at school.
They played together, painted together, and went on nature hikes together with the narrator’s family. The narrator knew Rudi was sick and sometimes he didn’t feel like playing outside, so the two friends played quietly at Rudi’s house; coloring or playing video games.
When Rudi was feeling well, the two would sit by the pond, dangling their feet in the water. One day they made a hummingbird feeder from a bottle and a drinking straw.
The narrator’s Mom told her, one day, Rudi’s mom had called and said Rudi was in the hospital. Her mom told her Rudi was very, very ill; something was wrong with his heart and it was getting worse.
Author, Eve Bunting, did a great job including the stages of grief in the story. The narrator cried when her Mom told her how sick Rudi was. Rudi’s class made and sent ‘Get Well’ Cards and a Banner. The narrator asked if she could visit Rudi in the hospital, but only his mom and dad could visit him. She became angry and shouted, “He’s my best friend. It’s not fair!”
When Rudi died, the narrator wanted it to be a horrible dream. The class wrote a book of poems about Rudi. The school decided they should make a memorial to honor Rudi. The narrator tells her teacher and principal that Rudi liked ponds. A pond was built beside a big oak tree in the schoolyard. Rudi’s classmates brought plants, rocks, and shells to decorate the pond. The narrator brought the hummingbird feeder, she and Rudi had made together, and hung it on the big oak tree. She saw a hummingbird feeding from the feeder the very first day she hung it on the tree. The hummingbird came every day.
“Rudi’s Pond” is a beautiful, touching story about friendship, loss, and sadness.
http://mauldinfamily1.wordpress.com/2...

This Book Review was written for the ‘Award Winning Books Reading Challenge’ at: http://gatheringbooks.org/

[Tara Byk · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rudi’s Pond follows the story of a young girl and her neighbor friend Rudi, who goes to the hospital for complications of his heart condition. The class they are a part of supports him for a while, and then Rudi dies in the hospital. In memory of Rudi, the class writes poems and decides to put a pond in the school, and the girl adds a hummingbird feeder to the pond, which has a special meaning for her and Rudi. The book ends with a hummingbird visiting the pond and the feeder every day, and the girl feeling like Rudi is still with her somehow. The major theme of this book is that you might lose people, but you will always have the good memories that you made with them. Personally, I haven’t lost a best friend like that, but I have lost a grandparent, and I still recall the good times we had and even though it is sad, I am glad that I had the time that I did with her. I think putting in the pond is a nice way to remember their classmate. I would recommend this text as a tool for parents or teachers to use in discussion with children about losing people, or even pets too. You could have a stimulating conversation about how even though people may die, their memories still stay with us.

[A · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really sad story about a small girl whose best friend Rudi died from some sort of heart problems he had since he was born. Although he was often sick they were together nearly every day, playing outdoors when he was well and indoors when he wasn't feeling so well. One day his mom called and told the family that Rudi was going to the hospital because he was "sinking". Rudi never gets better and dies in the hospital. The girl never gets to visit Rudi in the hospital while he is sick and is heartbroken when he dies. At his school they write poems about Rudi making a book and they also create a memorial pond in Rudi's honor. The girl hangs a hummingbird feeder on the tree adjacent to the pond and everyday a bird comes to look at the girl in the window before it goes to feed. The girl thinks the hummingbird may be Rudi coming to see her, but she never actually says this outloud. She ends up taking the hummingbird feeder home when school lets out for the summer and she believes the hummingbird will find his way there as well. Okay bibliotherapeutic story.

[Alexandria Hiam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really sad story about a small girl whose best friend Rudi died from some sort of heart problems he had since he was born. Although he was often sick they were together nearly every day, playing outdoors when he was well and indoors when he wasn't feeling so well. One day his mom called and told the family that Rudi was going to the hospital because he was "sinking". Rudi never gets better and dies in the hospital. The girl never gets to visit Rudi in the hospital while he is sick and is heartbroken when he dies. At his school they write poems about Rudi making a book and they also create a memorial pond in Rudi's honor. The girl hangs a hummingbird feeder on the tree adjacent to the pond and everyday a bird comes to look at the girl in the window before it goes to feed. The girl thinks the hummingbird may be Rudi coming to see her, but she never actually says this outloud. She ends up taking the hummingbird feeder home when school lets out for the summer and she believes the hummingbird will find his way there as well. Okay bibliotherapeutic story.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. It did a good job portraying how to handle grief from the perspective of a child. It made me think of when my friend died when I was little and the people at the Red Cross blood drive in her honor suggested I connect a song to her memory because I was worried that I would forget her. I would offer this book if a child was grieving over anyone. I enjoyed the illustrations in this book.

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/bo...
Interest Level
Grades K - 2
Reading Level
Grade level Equivalent: 2.8
Lexile® Measure: AD500L
DRA: 30
Guided Reading: N
Genre
Fiction
Realistic Fiction
Theme/Subject
Cause and Effect
Drawing Conclusions and Making Inferences
Summarizing
Character and Values
Culture and Diversity
Life Experiences
Friends and Friendship
School Life

[Pinky · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little loses her best friend to an illness. She gets her class to make a commemorative pond for him.

[Abbey Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book, but it was hard for me to read becuase it is so emotional. I think if I read this book aloud to my class I would probably cry. It is a beautiful story that teaches children about love, friendship, and loss. I think 2nd graders would not be able to grasp the concept, but I think older students could use this book to help them relate to a tough/difficult time of loss in their lives.

[Alanah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I happened upon this book while working. I approached a woman looking through the stacks of the library to ask if she needed any assistance. When she turned to me there were tears streaming down her face - she had just finished reading this book. I knew I shouldn't read it while at work but I decided to flip through. It took all of me to keep from completely falling apart! It's a gorgeous book and a beautiful true story.

[Alison Durbin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought that this book made a heart-breaking situation simple to comprehend for children. It shows a character who not only has someone die who is close to her, but we get to see how she copes with it at such a young age. I really enjoyed the heart-warming ending, and I liked how it lifts the spirit if only for a few minutes. Death is never easy to talk about, but this book can open a discussion.

[Marcie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so glad someone in my DU class had this as a part of their Personal Literature Connection. I think it will be very useful for that request of a book for helping children cope with a loss. I have a number of bibliographies about Death and for some reason it was not on them. I trust prolific Eve Bunting to so beautifully help us deal with difficult topics.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was sad. There's no getting around a child dying being heartbreaking, yet at the same time the way that the other children, the main character in particular, grieved and consoled themselves was a beautiful tribute to the memory of their lost friend.

[Mackenzie Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is an excellent resource to teach about life, death, and grief to young children. When the narrator, a young girl, loses her best friend, she, her family, classmates, and school work together to get through their tough time.

[Jo]

Library. When young Rudo dies, his classmates build a pond ti the schoolyard to remember him.

[Bev · Rating 4 out of 5]

My english teacher's grandson is Rudi. Except, Eve used Rudi as a fake name. I think the grandson was related or something. Anyways, he had leukemia. It was really sad....

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good for children (~5-8yrs) grieving the loss of a friend. multi-ethnic friendly.

[Kayla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my gosh, this book is sad! I read it at the library and it took everything I had to keep the tears from flowing. Don't think I could read this one aloud to my kids.

[Joanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written, but very sad.Had never read it before reading it to my child at bedtime... WAY too heavy to read to a 3 yr old!!! :/ Maybe better for grade school.

[Kirsten Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touching story about the way friends and classmates handle the death of a young boy

[Mari]

Deals with the death of a friend

[Leslie Basky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is a classmate's account of a friend who dies. Sad, but beautifully written