🟢 Book Review: Where Do They Go? by Julia Alvarez
- Holly Persons
- Oct 8
- 2 min read
RATING: 🟢 Recommended
REVIEWER: Holly Persons
REVIEW METHODOLOGY: Louise Derman-Spark's Guide for Selecting Anti-Bias Children's Books from the Social Justice Books Project, Teaching for Change
“I find them each day in surprising new places:”
The book Where Do They Go? By Julia Alvarez, illustrated by Sabra Field, is a perfect depiction of what it is like to deal with loss and grieving. In the book Where Do They Go?, it walks the reader through the feeling of absence that one experiences when a loved one dies and the question of where they go. This book helps break down grief in a way that is relatable to the reader, specifically children, by showing how to navigate through the feeling of loss. With bright illustrations, poetic language and thought-provoking analogies, it gives the reader a sense that they are not alone. Where Do They Go? is a great resource for children who have lost a loved one or are currently going through grief. This book can help provide a source of comfort and understanding in the grieving process.
When author Julia Alvarez experienced the loss of her parents 5 months apart from each other, she began navigating this period of grief in her own life. She asked herself the question -- “where do they go?” -- when thinking of loved ones who had passed. She began jotting down her thoughts as poems, and eventually, it came to her mind to create a children’s book based on this idea of wondering where loved ones go when they die. Alvarez held the idea that everyone is someone’s child and grief can feel just as devastating for a child as it does for an adult. This is why creating a children’s book was something that spoke to her, so she could provide a source of comfort to others. She was able to encapsulate her own feelings of grief in this book as well as incorporate visuals with the illustrations of Sabra Field. With colorful imagery and gripping analogies, Field painted a picture of what grief looks like as you go through everyday life.
RECOMMENDED 🟢:
I highly recommend this book for children especially who are going through loss or grieving. With the use of age appropriate language, children will be able to easily grasp the message of this book. Through beautiful descriptions displayed in the warm illustrations, Where Do They go? helps to bring a sense of comfort and relatability to the reader. It provides different examples of coping mechanisms and sends the message that it is okay to grieve. Something that a child can take away from this book is the idea that there can be a forever connection shared between them and a loved one even once they are gone.
RESOURCE
Press, S. S. (16AD). Julia Alvarez on how her new Children’s book came to be. sevenstories.com. https://www.sevenstories.com/blogs/24-julia-alvarez-on-how-her-new-children-s-book-came-to-be
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
REVIEWER BIO: Holly Persons was a student at Portland State University and took Zapoura Newton-Calvert's Social Justice in K12 Curriculum course. Their volunteer work was a partnership with Reading Is Resistance and the Social Justice Books Project from Teaching for Change.
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