Book Review: The Heart and the Bottle

Today, the Snorting Warthog and the Honey Badger met up some new friends at the local library. There is a list of recommended books that I try to grab when we go to the library; these books are on the homeschooling curriculum’s reading list. However, as I muddle through the children’s books in search of one of my titles, I usually find another book that looks like it may be interesting. About fifty percent of the time, I am wrong…the books are lame and terrible. About forty percent of the time the books are just ok…but about one in ten books we check out are awesome.

“The Heart and the Bottle” by Oliver Jeffers was a surprisingly deep children’s book. I would highly recommend this book for any child who has lost someone very significant in their life. The story begins with a young girl who is curious about the world, but loses someone very close to her and thus puts her heart away for safe keeping, so that it cannot be hurt anymore. When the young girl grows into a woman, she unexpectedly finds that a small child reunites her with her heart and she learns to love again and expose herself to the vulnerabilities of life and love. This was a very short, but simple and beautiful book.