Each Little Bird That Sings | 
 enlarge | Author: Deborah Wiles
Publisher: Harcourt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $5.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  34 reviews
Sales Rank: 113611
Media: Paperback
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 276
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5 x 0.9
ISBN: 0152056572
EAN: 9780152056575
ASIN: 0152056572
Publication Date: August 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Like New Condition, Shelf Wear, Never Been Read, Tight Binding, Clean Text , Immediate Shipping, Email Notification, Professional Service, MILLIONS Served, SATISFACTION GUARANTEED!
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Amazon.com
Death is a way of life for the Snowberger family, since they run a funeral parlor out of their Mississippi home with the motto "We live to serve." Still, when 94-year-old Great-great-aunt Florentine Snowberger dies in the vegetable garden, no one can truly be prepared, even though she'd been bidding "good night and good-bye" to the family every night since she turned 90. Florentine's death is hard on 10-year-old Comfort, since the two were so close, even co-writing the Fantastic (and Fun) Funeral Food for Family and Friends. It's no surprise, then, when the annoyingly overwrought emotional displays of her young cousin Peach Shuggars and the sudden iciness of her alleged best friend Declaration Johnson send Comfort over the edge. Thank goodness for her shaggy "feel-good" dog Dismay who can eradicate all bad feelings with a single slobbery lick. When a dangerous flash flood comes to Snapfinger on the day of Florentine's funeral, Comfort learns again that life is full of surprises, good and bad, and that, ultimately, it's just good to be alive. This warm, witty novel, told in Comfort's voice (and a mix of letters, recipes, articles, and helpful hints), celebrates the joys of family, of prune bread, of freshly sharpened pencils, and of "each little bird that sings." The fairly constant philosophizing about life and death, the unusual character names (Tidings, Comfort, Joy), and the narrator's oft-precocious voice may fray a nerve or two, but readers will find more than enough humor and good old-fashioned storytelling here to make up for it. (Ages 8 to 12) --Karin Snelson
Product Description
Ten-year-old Comfort Snowberger has attended 247 funerals--her family owns the local funeral home, after all. And even though Great-uncle Edisto keeled over with a heart attack and Great-great-aunt Florentine dropped dead--just like that--six months later, Comfort knows how to deal with loss, or so she thinks. She's more concerned with avoiding her crazy cousin Peach and trying to figure out why her best friend, Declaration, suddenly won't talk to her. But life is full of surprises. And the biggest one of all is learning what it takes to handle them.
In this heartfelt and quintessentially Southern coming-of-age novel, Comfort will charm young readers with her wit, her warmth, and her struggles as she learns about life, loss, and ultimately, triumph. Includes reader's guide and a biography of the author.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 29 more reviews...
 Great Book May 6, 2008
Let me start out with this- Each little bird that sings is a great book. It's about a girl who lives in a funeral home, amidst a beauty-queen mom, brat-of-a-cousin, and a comforting dog named Dismay. The girl's name is Comfort, Comfort Snowberger, an 11-year-old who lives in the small town of Snapfinger. Comfort's life was thrown like a rag doll when her great-uncle Edisto died. They had gone on "pic-a-nics", played games, and had great times with each other. Just after recovering from Edisto's death, Comfort's great-great-aunt Florentine dies in her garden. Comfort is devastated. In the days leading up to Aunt Florentine's funeral, Comfort's cousin, Peach, comes. Comfort's best friend hates Peach, and starts to avoid Comfort. Finally, Declaration, Comfort's BFF, agrees to come to Aunt Florentine's funeral, but she's REALLY mean to Comfort. The rest of the book consists of a flash-flood, lost dog, and a friendship that might never be regained. If you want a good, true-to-life book to read this summer, this is for you! I love the way that what Comfort says is so REAL that you can almost picture that she exists! I also like how there's little bits and pieces of recipes, newspaper articles, and journal entries in this book. Wiles does a great job discribing life and the world of Snapfinger from an 11-year-old's eyes. So go ahead, buy this book, and rejoice in the truth of one author's words.
 Each Little Bird That Sings May 1, 2008
This book begins with the truth and a fact that I agree with which is what makes this book so strong: It doesn't matter how you die; it matters how you live your life. This is my favorite book ever!
It's about a girl named Comfort and her family who run a funeral home. It tells how she and her family deal with death. When her aunt dies, her family comes to the funeral, and then when her cousin Peach comes everything goes wrong. Soon enough Peach and Comfort start to get along,but then something horrible happens. If you want to know what happens, you will have to read the book. Comfort and her friend Declaration are having trouble as friends, and soon Comfort is blaming everything on Declaration.
I like this book, because it has things that would happen in real life, like someone dying. I also like it because of the way Deborah Wiles makes the characters Comfort and Peach remind me of my brother and me.
If you like this book, you will like Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech.
By Elizabeth
Each Little Bird That Sings November 19, 2007
This book is a great book for anyone of any age to read. I loved the colorful names of each character and the relationships the main character had with her family and friends. This is a must read!
A beautiful, bubbling, but bittersweet book September 2, 2007
While organizing books in my basement, I came across a hand-me-down with a cool-looking cover. I read the back and was attracted to the content. I decided I would start reading it to my kids--6, 8, and 10--before bed each night. The author has a very cute way of writing and created such great characters that amused my kids right from the beginning. They especially laughed out loud at everything Merry said.
SPOILER WARNING:
During a flash flood that nearly kills Comfort and Peach, Dismay--funeral dog extraordinaire--gets swept away by the rising water's current. I stopped there for the night and came down to find out what happens. After reading the other reviews and finding out that Dismay does die, I was so sad. I decided to tell the kids the next morning so that they'd be prepared when I read before bed that night. I didn't want to upset them before bed! They took it pretty well and wanted to go on reading that night.
Parents, if you're going to read this book aloud to your children, I hope you can get through it better than I did. I actually had to have my husband take over at certain parts because I couldn't get the words through the lump in my throat nor see for the tears in my eyes! It was a little embarrassing and my daughter said, "Mom, you're weird." LOL
My 8- and 10-year-old enjoyed this book more than my 6-year-old. He lost interest here and there and wasn't interested in hearing the end.
All in all, this book was wonderfully written and was tender and sweet. Death is a part of life and it was nice to talk about the subject with my kids after our nightly sessions. I'm really glad I found this book and got to share it with my babies.
Each little Bird That Sings by:Deborah Wiles June 4, 2007
Have you ever been to a funeral? Have you ever know someone that ruins everything? Well those things happen in Each Little Bird That Sings.It is about a girl named Comfort that surronded by death and all the drama that comes with it.But when her best friend turns straight mean and her annoying cousin Peach comes all she wants to do is hide in her closet and make all her troubles go away. I would recemond this book to people who like drama and suprises.
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