The Rough Patch by Brian Lies

 Lies, B. (2018) The Rough Patch (B. Lies, Illus.). Greenwillow Books.

This book takes on the complicated concept of death and grief in a delicate way that will educate children on this difficult subject. The language used stays tactful, using placement and pauses to make an impact rather than rhymes or rhythm. There is a great example of this when the garden becomes overcome with weeds when the flowers all get hacked away. The word “weeds” is separated from the other two sentences on the same page. This allows the word to have its impact while giving children a chance to ponder and discuss what the weeds mean and represent. In terms of making the idea of death more approachable to kids, Lies chooses to avoid using the words “death” or “dying,” opting to write “…the unthinkable happened” and “laid his dog to rest” instead. Children may find the idea of death confusing or scary so using softer phrases helps them feel more comfortable with exploring the complexities of this kind of event.

The tone of the book is somber for the most part with only a couple pages of cheer in the beginning and a bit of hope at the end. The illustrations enhance these tones by changing the brightness of each image with the color choice. When the book starts, we see what normal life for Evan and his dog looked like. During this part, a full range of colors are used from a bright red truck to a bright blue sky and everything in-between making it look as though the sun is always out and shining.

Then, to break the news of the death, a blank white background behind Evan caressing his dog brings the cheer to a halt giving the image the kind of impact a death like that would have. The only color comes from the image of Evan and his dog making it the focus of this spread.

After this, we see the color palette get darker as the images get harsher. Lots of shadows and poison-like greens fill the pages while the images themselves change to pointy, sharp, and sickly-looking plants instead of the lush colorful ones we admired before. Each image introduces more darkness with more sharp objects and shadows coming in to match the mood of Evan and the tone of this part of the story. The colors only start to brighten after some time and the introduction of a plant that isn’t a weed or sickly. As this plant grows, the colors we saw previously start to dominate the page more until we are back in sunshine by the end. This cycle can help children grasp that while death can be difficult to face and have a strong affect, there is also an end to the grief and a way to move on. Instead of insisting children to move on from the start, the book encourages children to sit with their pain and assess it. The return to brightness helps the children realize that the pain doesn’t and shouldn’t last forever.