This book is one of four in the "Life's Challenges" series that deal with difficult situations children encounter. Here a beloved relative has died suddenly and a family of hedgehogs (in human form) must deal with the feelings, practical details, and accommodations to family traditions that follow. The perspective of the narrative and conversations are from the point of view of one of the children in the family, but small blocks of text on every other page provide an objective third-person explanation of events. For example on the page portraying the visitation, this box says, "For many people, seeing a loved one's body is an important part of saying good-bye. It helps them accept that the person has died." Feelings accompanying the death of a loved one are discussed respectfully and in a normative fashion. Full-page or two-page illustrations are a combination of collage and paintings; as is common with many children's books, the portrayal of the family as animal figures both engages and yet provides some emotional distance. A short glossary of terms, some additional readings, and a link to Capstone's "FactHound" website follow the text as does a largely superfluous index. Appropriate for public and school libraries needing additional materials on the topics.

PreS-Gr 1—These books attempt to make difficult subjects understandable for young children. All four share the same format in terms of writing style and structure, and the greeting-card-cute illustrative styles are also markedly similar. These titles walk youngsters through the various emotions they are likely to experience when confronted with a traumatic event. In The Night Dad Went to Jail, the father is seen in handcuffs and later having to speak to his family through a fiberglass wall. In Weekends with Dad, a young fox finds living in two places confusing. In Good-bye, Jeepers, a panda overcomes his reluctance to stroke his dead pet one final time. In Saying Good-bye to Uncle Joe, the uncle is in his casket with a distraught young animal kneeling next to him. All four books do a good job of explaining the gamut of emotions that a child might experience and offer solid suggestions for coping with them. What is problematic here is the art. Having a lop-eared bunny (possibly a dog?) coping with the fact that his father will be in prison for six years seems to trivialize the event, as does having Dad looking cuddly in his orange jumpsuit. Perhaps that's a hedgehog in Saying Good-bye to Uncle Joe, although a beaver is another possibility. Despite this shortcoming, caregivers and counselors will find these books useful when attempting to discuss these situations.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ