The Purple Balloon

by Chris Raschka

When a child becomes aware of his pending death (children tend to know long before the rest of us even want to consider it), and is given the opportunity to draw his feelings, he will often draw a blue or purple balloon, released and unencumbered, on its way upward. Health-care professionals have discovered that this is true, regardless of a child's cultural or religious background and researchers believe that this is symbolic of the child's innate knowledge that a part of them will live forever. . . .   In disarmingly simple and direct language, accompanied by evocative potato print illustrations, Raschka in conjunction with Children's Hospice International (CHI), creates a moving, sensitive book that is also a phenomenally useful tool to talk about death. The message of the book is talking about dying is hard, dying is harder, but there are many people in your life who can help.   Children's Hospice International (CHI), a nonprofit organization founded in 1983, is paving the way for the establishment of children's hospice and related services worldwide.

Genres: Picture Books, Death, Childrens, Grief, Family, Nonfiction, Kids

32 pages, Hardcover

First published May 8, 2007

About the author

Chris Raschka is the illustrator of The Hello, Goodbye Window, which was awarded the Caldecott Medal. He is also the illustrator of the Caldecott Honor Book Yo! Yes?; Charlie Parker Played Be Bop; Mysterious Thelonious; John Coltrane’s Giant Steps; Can’t Sleep; and The Magic Flute. He lives with his wife and son in New York City.

Reviews

[Jess Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

I accidentally pulled this book as a potential for a display I was doing called "Up, Up, and Away!" about balloons, kites, and other things that "fly." Though the title suggests a carefree subject matter, it is actually much weightier than that. According to the preface, oftentimes terminally ill children will draw a purple of blue balloon as a representation of how they feel about themselves (once they become aware of their own mortality and impending death). The book then discusses the process of death on basic terms, what it means to the people going through the process and left behind. It is gentle and simple and intended to make the ordeal a bit softer, I think. It made me feel both sad and hopeful, and might be useful to a teacher wanting to discuss the death of a student with the class or anyone wanting to bring up death and dying with a young child. Overall, a very nice, helpful book.

[Carol Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's no way to know what this book is about when you pick it up ... so I can see many people opening it and being surprised by the content. Very simple text and illustrations about dying and more specifically children dying. Certainly a hard topic and this book presents it with gentle directness. As someone who has been through the death of a child with my family I can 100% see this book being a valuable resource for many families, hospitals, classrooms, etc.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up this book from the library not knowing what it was about. It teaches children about dying. Interestingly enough though, in a note from the writer before the story begins, she explains that terminally ill children who are asked to draw how they are feeling will often draw a purple or blue balloon taking off into the sky. This is known to happen across cultures and religions.

[Emily Whitmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such a sad read but it gets the point across about support being needed to help a person who is dying!

[Kaylin]

"The Purple Balloon" is a Caldecott award winning picture book, and it is appropriate for all ages. This book is important because it talks about dying, and how sometimes young people die too. It explains how having good people in your life, like family and friends, can make dying less hard. The pictures are of all different colored balloons, and they have varying facial expressions. At the end, the purple balloon flies away, which is a metaphor for death. There is a very mature theme to this book, which might be hard for some students to handle, but it is a light-hearted way to talk about a serious topic. There is a page at the end of the book that gives tips on how to act if one of your friends are sick, including not making a big deal of it and letting them know you're there. There are also ways listed to keep in contact with someone who has been absent from school or in the hospital, like sending a card or an email, visiting if you can, and keeping your friend informed on what is going on in school, with other friends, etc. If I were teaching this book, I would read this page to my students. I would also ask if anyone would like to share a personal story about death or a hardship they are experiencing. I would even make myself available to talk in private with anyone who feels the need since it is a heavy topic.

[eRin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up in the Bookmobile without any knowledge of the subject matter--dying. It begins with an introduction that explains: "When a child becomes aware of his or her pending death and is given an opportunity to 'draw your feelings,' he or she will often draw a blue or purple balloon, released and floating free. ..this is true regardless of a child's cultural or religious background." The book uses drawings of balloons to represent people and starts by discussing how sad it is when an old person dies, and then does on to discuss the sadness related to a child's death. The book explains that there are many people needed to help--family, doctors, nurses, teachers, etc--that "good help makes dying less hard."

This is more of a book for the friend of a dying child than the actual dying child. It presents the tough subject manner in an easy-to-understand way and includes a list of things to do when you find out your friend is sick at the end of the book. The balloons, though simple, are pretty effective at demonstrating the emotions. I don't know that any book could actually help a child dealing with this on her own, but this can be a good start for dialogue on the subject.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book about a very difficult subject: the impending death of a child. The author opens with an anecdote from Elisabeth Kubler-Ross about how when children who are faced with coming to terms with their death and are asked to draw their feelings they often represent themselves as balloons.

The text describes all of the people who help loved ones during their final days and demonstrates how readers should treat someone whom they love as they live out the remainder of their time.

Potato and wood block prints of watercolor balloons comprise the artwork. The range of emotions displayed on the faces of the balloons is really helpful for readers because it shows how everyone processes things differently, especially at different moments. This book spans a wide age range because of how relatable it is, but the simple text and artwork makes it most suitable for sharing with young children.

[Amanda Casteel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author/Illustrator: Chris Raschka

Year Published: 2007 by Schwartz and Wade

Reading Level: Early

Issues Addressed: Death and Dying, Grief, Severe Illness

Classroom Uses: Read Aloud, Individual Reading

Summary: The story about death and dying as well as the support needed for those affected by death and dying is told by balloon people. The illustrations are very child-friendly and can help children deal with this difficult topic.

Literary Devices: Personification,

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book for young children who are experiencing grief. People are represented as different colored balloons. We learn that many people have roles meant to help a person who is dying and there are other roles meant to help those who have lost a loved one. This book addresses the death of a young person and emphasizes that hope can eventually come after much pain.

[Ilse Espino · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is very different from a lot of children’s books because it is about death. Death is a topic that is very hard to talk about for, both, adults and children, but it must be talked about because it is inevitable. In the book, the author talks about how when someone is dying, it is important to show your support towards that person as much as possible. The author talks about older people dying as well as about young people dying. The illustrations show emotions which may be felt when someone is dying such as sadness, empathy, peacefulness, and love. Also, the characters in the book are balloons. I think the decision to make the characters balloons and not humans makes the concept of death easier to explain because that way kids won’t focus only on the people. As a child, I remember not truly understanding the concept of death when my grandfather passed away, and I think that this book could really help explain that to kids going through a similar situation. The theme of this story is that death is natural and not something to be afraid of, and I think that it’s important for children to understand that. I recommend this book to anyone who knows a child experiencing the death of a loved one for the first time. This book can open up a conversation between the adult and the child about how the child is dealing with the death of a loved one and clear up any questions they may have about the process.

[Grace Willits · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have never felt so touched by a picture book before, the first reading gave me goosebumps. The Purple Balloon discusses dying and how we can help those who are sick or dying, young or old. The words are accompanied by balloon people, which are balloons with faces that show emotions. The story explains that when someone is dying everyone does what they can to help but that it is hard. Friends and family can help to make dying less hard and their good will help the experience. At first, Rashcka shows an old man balloon dying, then he shows how young people die sometimes too. When a balloon person is dying, their string is bent into wings; it’s interesting how Raschka uses “good” in place of “god”, making the story comforting for everyone. The final page explains how you can help when someone is dying. This story would be useful in a classroom where a student becomes extremely sick, or does die, to help students understand what has happened and what they can do. I've never read a picture book about a topic so real, and confront the topic in such a mature way.

[Alyssa Pierce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is beyond touching. It is so sweet and handles the topic of death with such grace that it is more heart warming than sad. This book explains how hard it is for anyone to pass away or head in that direction, especially when it is someone young. An emphasis is placed on the importance of people when someone is dying. There are always people there to help and it is a time when friends are needed more than anything. This book is amazing for being able to explain that when losing someone it is a time to come together and support each other to the best of our abilities. I think it is also able to relay the message that it is not the end of the world to lose someone, that it is possible to recover from the loss and that friends and family are their to help you through the process. In addition to the words, the pictures help the story greatly. The emotions are clearly shown on their faces and I think the fact they are balloons and not actual people helps make the book a little more approachable; it is relatable without hitting too close to home.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a child becomes aware of his pending death (children tend to know long before the rest of us even want to consider it), and is given the opportunity to draw his feelings, he will often draw a blue or purple balloon, released and unencumbered, on its way upward. Health-care professionals have discovered that this is true, regardless of a child's cultural or religious background and researchers believe that this is symbolic of the child's innate knowledge that a part of them will live forever. . . .

In disarmingly simple and direct language, accompanied by evocative potato print illustrations, Raschka in conjunction with Children's Hospice International (CHI), creates a moving, sensitive book that is also a phenomenally useful tool to talk about death. The message of the book is clear: talking about dying is hard, dying is harder, but there are many people in your life who can help.

Children's Hospice International (CHI), a nonprofit organization founded in 1983, is paving the way for the establishment of children's hospice and related services worldwide

[Kyra Calnan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ring! Yo? is the dialogue from one side of a phone conversation. The boy is on the phone with another boy who is shown on the page prior to the title page. His phrases never exceed two words, for example, “Then?” or “Uh-huh”. The reader is able to understand what type of voice inflection to use based on the boy’s facial expression and posture. At the end of the phone conversation, Chris Raschka asks, “Hey! What just happened there?”, exactly what the reader is thinking. He then provides a potential second side to the conversation. Students will have fun coming up with their own possible idea for the conversation. The class can work with a partner to come up with what the boy on the other line was saying to warrant the main boy’s responses, as a fun way to practice writing skills. Punctuation is very important in this story, and students can focus on using punctuation to help show emotion.

[Jessica Gilligan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raschka, Chris. (2007). The Purple Balloon. New York: Schwartz and Wade Books.
Picture Book Soak

I thought The Purple Balloon, by Chris Raschka, would be a great book to use with a class when you want, or need, to deal with the heavy topic of death or illness. I remember having a few students during my time in elementary school who were terminally ill and passed away, and it was really hard to deal with the grief that it brought me and others, as nobody really wanted to open up and talk about it. This book is about how hard talking about dying can be, but that it's really important to face the issue, because people who are dying-young and old-need others around them to help them face what's yet to come. At the end of the book, the author inserted some things a child can do for someone else who may have an illness. I definitely think this is one book every classroom needs, because you never know what people are going through or have been through already.

[Randy]

This is a picture book about dying, a difficult subject that is here handled with delicacy and tact. Raschka uses the fact that many terminally ill children draw purple balloons, perhaps indicating their belief in a spirit that lives on after death, by creating all his characters as balloons of various colors. He discusses an old person (evidently a grandpa) dying, then a child, the protagonist. The book's not religious in any way and probably by itself will not be sufficient in helping children comprehend and deal with death, especially their own, but it is certainly worth purchasing if you're facing that situation. No single book or program, after all, could adequately handle such a large and difficult issue by itself. This book is an excellent way to broach the subject, followed by further readings, viewings, and discussions, particularly of your religious faith.

[Sevenponds · Rating 5 out of 5]

Created in conjunction with Children’s Hospice International, The Purple Balloon by Chris Raschka offers a way for parents, families, friends, and hospital workers to broach how to explain death to a child.

This simple children’s book is based on this fascinating anecdote shared at the beginning of the book:

“When a child becomes aware of his or her pending death and is given the opportunity to “draw your feelings,” he or she will often draw a blue or purple balloon, released and floating free. Health care professionals have discovered that this is true regardless of a child’s cultural or religious background, and researchers believe that it deomonstrates the child’s innate knowledge that a part of him or her will live forever.”
[..Continued.]

Full SevenPonds Review:
http://blog.sevenponds.com/lending-in...

[Annie Delight]

Ok, I have to admit that when I take the children to the library I let them pick out books, and I just GRAB books off the shelf that "LOOK CUTE". This is a book that LOOKED CUTE... but... this book is about DYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How dying is hard work, and that family and friends will be there to support the dying person. An 'old' balloon AND a little baby balloon die!! I kept reading it but... I was scared with every turn of the page. More so because of the questions that would follow. On the other side of me being TOTALLY FREAKED, it was kinda nice to explain to Lany that people die and that babies can die too... I think I will choose my books with a little more caution....

* This book WOULD be helpful if you had a death situation happening though!!

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anthropomorphized balloons die.

This is a picture book about death. Wow, it is simple, straight forward, and doesn't pull any punches. Rather than actual people, the illustrations depict balloons with human faces. The narrative frames dying as a difficult process through which the dying person needs a lot of help from medical personnel, caregivers, religious officials, friends, and family members. It even delves into the taboo topic of a young person dying, which is something that I hadn't expected.

Included at the back is a list of things that children can do "to help" someone who is dying.

Despite the mention of religious officials as people who can help someone who is dying, there is no mention of God or the afterlife.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a preface to this story that says, regardless of religion or cultural background, children who are ill and dying often draw some kind of balloon, thought to mean that a part of them will stay forever in our world. Chris Raschka has used potato prints and colorful balloons to tell a story of feelings when death is in our world. They represent all the different people involved who help, the young child who is ill, and the various feelings swirling around. If one has a child in one’s life, friend or student, this is a wonderful book to support you, and to use with young children who need help understanding what’s happening to a friend or a relative.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Really liked it" seems like a strange thing to say about this book. I've been reading a lot of Chris Raschka lately, and I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up. Turns out it's about death, specifically the death of a child. That's quite the shock when you are expecting a book about a balloon! This book fills an important niche because it's not meant for the dying child, but for other children who may know the dying child. It's not easy to speak candidly about young people dying, but Raschka does it gently, emphasizing that "everyone helps" when someone dies. That's a peaceful way to think about it.

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 3 out of 5]

The balloon imagery and symbolism is kind of lost on me in this book, but it does address an important topic - coping with the serious illness and impending death of a child. This book will raise a lot of questions for kids, so I'd recommend reading it with an adult, but it does address the concept of death in about as child-friendly a way as I can imagine. It's also careful not to focus on what happens after death, so families with varying beliefs can have their own discussions about that after reading the story.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up by accident; I was looking for books for children about death, but grandparents specifically. I read it through anyway though, and I think that for its intended audience it's a perfect introduction to the idea of terminally ill children. It's not graphic an goes in to no real detail, but simply describes how helpful other people are and how sad it can make everyone involved.

Simple, colourful illustrations are a plus too, and the copy I borrowed says that funds from the sale are donated to help critically ill children.

[Michelle]

Type: Nonfiction
Summary: When a child becomes aware of his soon of a death and is given the opportunity to draw his feelings, he will often draw a blue or purple balloon, released the balloon on its way upward. This is something symbolic to me and I enjoyed this book even though it seems like something sad to read about.
I would want the kids to think deeper about the story and then create an activity of them drawing something with emotion and we can put an art gallery and have kids walk around and put sticky notes of what the picture makes them feel.

[Dianna Adams-skafi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was awesome because a lot of children have yet to be introduced to the meaning of someone DYING or DEATH. I always astrayed away from the thought or conversation about death but yet after reading this bok took in to consideratiom even if with you dying or know someone dying having the comfort of family and experts help will keep you at ease about it but thankful to the factor of having these sort of people around.

[Tiffany Abston · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Purple Balloon embarks on a topic that no one wants to discuss. Death is a difficult subject and an even more difficult one when it comes to talking to students about death. This book does a great job at discussing death and how it is hard to lose one, it is hard to die, but there are people around you to help. This would be a phenomenal book to share with students who have recently lost a loved one or if someone in the school has past.

[Jennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this up at the library thinking it might be a good book for my ESL student. Nope! But of course, while the topic is heartbreaking - books like this are absolutely necessary. This is something kids and parents unfortunately experience and this is a sweet and gentle way to open up conversations about death and dying. I also thought the bit about how many children conceive of their mortality as a purple balloon was fascinating.

[Brooke Camera · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book would be good to read when students are dealing with a death in the family or just have questions about death. This book tells readers that when you know someone that has died, it is important to have people to help you through the pain. It says "good help makes dying less hard". This book has illustrations that does not frighten children about death. It shows children that dying is hard, but people will be their to help you through the pain.

[Hannah Stiepleman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about how to help cope with people who are dying. The purple balloon signifies that a child is dying. Throughout the book the author continuously states that there will always be people around to help in times of need for the grieving family. While this is a difficult subject to talk to children about, it is also a very important one. This book would work well in younger grades when having the discussion about death for any circumstance that might arise.

[Britney Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A children’s book that holds more meaning than most. This picture book brings up the tough subject of death. The purple balloon represents an angel, full of emotion being released. Raschka took some risk for a children's book to be this heavy. Although, I wouldnt use this book in my classroom because of parental approval, I would recommend it to parents of my students if they are looking for a way to explain the tough subject of death to their children.