By Deborah Wiles Each Little Bird that Sings
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Each Little Bird that Sings
By Deborah Wiles
Organizational Patterns:
Each Little Bird That Sings (Harourt Children’s Books, Hardback Edition,
©2005), is divided traditionally into chapters, but also includes a few inserts in
the form of letters and notes between friends, Newspaper articles, and two real
recipes for iced tea and a funeral casserole. The book touches into the “multi
genre” category of reading but the students should not find the occasional change
of pace disruptive. The newspaper articles and letters, for example, still help the
plot move forward and, because they are written primarily by the narrator, help
the reader understand what Comfort is thinking and how she deals with grief.
Issues Related to the Study of Literature:
• Death, and how different people handle death in
different ways: Each character in this book has different experiences
with death. Comfort sees death as a social affair at the beginning of the
book. Having grown up in a funeral home, she doesn’t understand other
characters, such as her cousin Peach (who cries too much) or her best friend
Declaration (who hates going to funerals.) Comfort seems to accept that
death is part of life without question until her dog Dismay is lost in a flood.
Although this could technically turn this book into another “dead dog book”
on the shelves of Young Adult Literature, the book spends so much time
around the culture of death and how it impacts people that it does not quite
fit into that genre either.
o I cried into Aunt Florentine’s wet bosom (when Uncle Edisto died).
Everybody cried, because death is hard. Death is sad. But death is
part of life. When someone you know dies, it’s your job to keep on
living (10). Declaration’s reaction to death at the beginning of the
novel.
o I wanted to be helpful, and I didn’t want Declaration to move –
ever. “You just need to go to more funerals, Declaration, that’ll take
care of that. I mean . . . look at me. You get used to death if you live
around it long enough.” Declaration shook her head. “Don’t you
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think it’s strange that you go to so many funerals, Comfort?” (42-3).
A conversation between Declaration and Comfort before Aunt
Florentine’s funeral.
• Friendship and Family Ties: Comfort’s relationship with her
best friend Declaration is frustrated for most of the book. Declaration seems
to go through a brief stage of wanting to be with the “right” group of friends,
and those friends think that it is weird to enjoy going to funerals. Comfort’s
relationship with her family is also somewhat strained when she is put in
charge of her cousin Peach at the funeral of her great-great aunt Florentine.
Along with learning how to understand the different ways that people cope
with loss, this book discusses how the structure of our friendships and
families can change and shift in extreme circumstances.
o “Funerals are an occupation for us, darling, you’re used to them.
Peach . . . isn’t. Uncle Edisto’s funeral was Peach’s first experience
with death. And he’s very sensitive; that’s just the kind of person he
is” (63). Mrs. Snowberger explaining how Peach responds
differently to funerals to Comfort.
Setting:
The book is set in the fictional town of Snapfinger, Mississippi where social
structures are revolved around the Snowberger Funeral Home. There is a map at
the beginning of the novel (drawn by Comfort) that could be used as a reference
point for where different scenes of the novel take place. Otherwise, it may be a
good idea to show different pictures of funeral homes to students and explain
what they generally have inside so that they can get an image of the various
rooms within the funeral home itself.
Point of View:
The story is told primarily from Comfort Snowberger’s point of view in first
person. The only deviation is in the occasional letter from her friend Declaration.
Because of this, the book lends itself well to a unit that involves personal
narratives and multi-genre
projects.
Plot: The main focus of
this book, because it is a bit
easier to read, would
probably be on the sequence
of events in the book and
how Wiles structures her
story and leads the reader
through three different
experiences with death, and
how those experiences
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change Comfort (and the reader):
Rising Action:
The rising action of this text takes place from the beginning through the
point when great-great aunt Florentine’s funeral is about to begin. During
this time, Comfort takes some steps toward understanding how hard death
can be for some people, but does not really seem to appreciate it. She
hates her cousin Peach for being so melodramatic (“don’t genuinely sob so
much (at a funeral) that you call attention to yourself”, she says) (49). She
gets frustrated with her friend Declaration for not finding funerals an
interesting social affair. (Declaration’s mother died when she was young,
and she’s had trouble going to funerals ever since.) Great-great aunt
Florentine’s death mixes all of these horrible things together for Comfort:
Declaration not wanting to be at the funeral but being forced to come
anyway, and Comfort being given charge of Peach’s care. Everything
comes to a peak when the rain starts to fall. . .
Climax:
The climax of the book hits when the river near Listening Rock (Comfort’s
favorite spot) starts to flood (see chapter 20). The already full to
overflowing river spills over quickly putting Comfort, Peach and Comfort’s
dog Dismay into danger. They run for safety on higher ground but the
swift current of the water traps them. Grasping onto a tree to save her
own life, she realizes that Peach is too hysterical to help himself, and she
cannot hold on to the tree, Peach, and Dismay all at once. She saves her
cousin and her dog is left to fend for himself, pulled away by the current of
the rising water. Peach and Comfort manage to make it to safety and are
rescued by Comfort’s father.
Falling Action:
The death of Comfort’s great-great
aunt and great uncle were not
enough to make her feel the pain of
death, but the loss of her beloved
dog nearly breaks her. Bound to
her bed for more than a week with a
fever, Comfort has to come to terms
with many things: she and Peach
have now shared an extreme
circumstance together, and those
bonds will not be easily broken.
Her friend Declaration is stunned
by what happened and feels that
she is partly to blame (since she and
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Comfort had been arguing shortly before the heavy rain started again), and
now Declaration is trying to make amends with Comfort, who is taking out
her grief in anger at Declaration. Comfort realizes, in the end, that there is
nothing wrong or unnatural about people being sad at a funeral, and that
death is a difficult experience, but not an impossible one to learn
something from. In the end, Comfort learns that it is possible to accept
and welcome death as part of life (as her great-great aunt Florentine
taught her), but that it is also possible to welcome life as part of life.
Narration/Voice:
The story is told almost entirely in first person through the rather precocious
voice of Comfort Snowberger. She has access to all the important information on
how funerals (should be) run and occasionally writes “Life Notices” for people
who have died that she knows. She also takes it upon herself to write a guide on
how to behave at funerals. She would be an excellent introduction to voice in
writing thanks to her many idioms and quirks.
Excerpts from Comfort Snowberger’s Top
Ten Tips for First-rate Funeral Behavior:
1. You don’t have to wear black at a funeral. Any old color is
fine; just don’t wear a wedding dress or your torn shorts. No
bare feet or flip‐flops. Comb your hair. The deceased (a fancy
word for the person who died) will wear more makeup than all
the mourners combined; so if you run out of time getting
ready to come to the funeral, don’t worry about makeup.
4. This is not a good time to remind the family that the
deceased owes you money.
(47‐49)
The Central Question or
Enduring Issue
• “We Live to Serve”
o The motto of the Snowberger
family is that they live to
serve. This phrase is repeated
several time s throughout the
novel, particularly toward the
end as it takes on new
meaning for Comfort. When
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she is given charge of watching over Peach, her mother repeats the
phrase several times in an attempt to try and help her accept the
job. It does not work at the beginning, but she learns to accept him
for who he is, and Peach learns how to calm down a bit from her
acceptance. Comfort learns that service is not just about doing
what you are “supposed” to do in any given situation, it is about
learning to love people even when they do things that aren’t right or
“normal.”
We live to serve,” said Mama, quietly and firmly. I opened
my mouth, but Mama held her index finger in front of her
lips in a “Shush,” so I just hiccupped again. Mama’s lipstick
was a creamy rose color; it outlined her lips perfectly, and
it matched the color of her fingernails. “You will not regret
that you helped your family today.” No nose-kiss to seal the
deal, but I knew it was decided (95).
• “I’ve Come to See You!”
o This is something
that Peach says
quite a bit in the
book. It was a
tradition he started
with Florentine, but
something he
attempts to
continue with
Comfort. When it
comes down to it,
this phrase serves
as the bridge
between life and
death for the novel.
It is representative of individuals accepting life and learning to
accept death as part of life without waiting for death.
“Comfort,” Peach whispered. “It’s Thanksgiving, and I’ve
come to see you!” I glanced toward the cemetery, then
toward home. I swallowed hard and took a breath. And as
I did, my heart melted around the sweetness and sadness of
the world and I responded to my cousin . . . to life. “Okay,” I
said. “Come see me then” (247).
Affective Issues Related to the Work:
• Death or illness in the family: At this point in life, many students would
have experienced death or illness of a grandparent (for example) for the first
time. Those who haven’t probably will. It is a difficult topic that taps into a
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range of emotions depending on the experience of the students. That range
of experience works well into the narration of the book since there are so
many characters that deal with death and understand death on different
levels.
• Friendship and Loneliness: Comfort experiences a near-loss of her friend
Declaration after her great-great aunt Florentine dies. Declaration decides
to spend her time with another group of friends and seems to find Comfort’s
interests childish or annoying. They seem to begin making amends by the
end of the book.
Vocabulary Issues
• Most students should not have an issue with the vocabulary in this text. The
vocabulary that may need explaining are some of the nouns specific to events
surrounding a funeral (depending on student exposure) and the names of
flowers or food dishes. Comfort’s brother also occasionally uses military
terminology, but the vocabulary should not be a major issue in the study of
this book. That said, the names used in the book might cause some issues,
not because they are hard to pronounce but because they are rather unusual.
In Comfort’s family, for example, her mother is named “Joy”, her brother is
named “Tidings”, her sister is named “Merry” and her dog is named
“Dismay” – all references to the song “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen.” It
might be useful to create a family tree of some kind to post in the room while
reading this book.
• Examples of Vocabulary from the text:
o Patriarch (11)
o Keeled (1)
o Misadventure (1)
o Untimely (20)
o Acknowledgements (69)
o Purgatory (Hill) (30)
o Quizzical (66)
o Shenanigans (69)
o Disentangling (97)
o Digress (183)
Background Knowledge
Student experience with this book will likely vary depending on past knowledge.
It will be a good chance for students who have been to funerals or have had a pet
die to talk about the experience in a non-threatening way if they feel comfortable
doing so. The teacher will need to be especially sensitive and ensure that the
book and its subject matter are treated with respect, and that the ultimate
message of making the most of life is highlighted. The classroom should not be a
depressing place to be. It is likely that not all of the students in the class will have
direct or personal experience with death. Some of them may have attended
funerals, like Comfort, for relatives they did not know very well or feel very
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connected to. Others may have very personal experience with the death of a pet
or immediate family member or friend. To build a good schema for the text, it
would be good to consider a project (like the ones listed below) that have students
use inquiry to discover information about how different cultures and religions
handle death, and how they understand death in relation to life.
Implications for Students of Diversity
One good thing about this book is that everyone becomes, to an extent, diverse.
Depending on the religious background and cultural background of the students,
everyone will have a different understanding of death, the afterlife, and what you
do when someone dies. By promoting a cultural diversity project on how
different regions of the country/different countries manage funerals, we can
address issues of diversity and talk about how there is no “right” way, just
“different” ways – as discussed in the novel.
Gender Issues
Each Little Bird that Sings should not present too much conflict with gender
issues. The only potential issue is that Comfort’s male cousin, Peach, is
melodramatic and cries more than most young male children would be expected
to cry. He is younger than Comfort, though, so it is likely that students will
consider this more a factor of age than of going against gender stereotypes (even
though it does, to a degree.)
Research Issues/Project Ideas
• Write your own Obituary for the class newspaper: how would you
like to be remembered?
o Could involve looking at the
history of obituaries and
epitaphs or reading some
obituaries in a paper to the
students so that they know what
they generally sound like and
what information they contain.
It may be a good idea to
print off examples from
another state. It might
also be prudent to be
aware of whether or not
any of the students in the
class has had a relative
die in the recent past for
sake of sensitivity. The
project should be fun,
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but it should be treated with respect and care.
• Culture of Funerals Project: Research a different culture and how they
handle death. (Either a religion that is not yours, or another country)
o Have students make a poster/powerpoint/presentation of some
kind that showcases another culture and how they understand and
deal with death of their loved ones.
o Likewise, it might also be a good idea to highlight what different
faiths believe about death and the afterlife, how different religious
cultures handle death.
• A personal narrative project – have student journaling for the unit be on
personal experiences geared around prompts related to the text.
• “Top Ten Tips for First-rate _____________ Behavior.”
o In the book, Comfort writes ten tips for guests to funerals at the
Snowberger funeral home. She suggests things about how to
behave, how to dress, what food to bring, and explains the
vocabulary of a funeral. Part of this unit could include a “how to”
paper where students could write how to-guides on funny things
like getting through the halls at school, how to get out of homework,
how to get out of chores, how to behave at football games, etc. This
could lead to a read-aloud session with a compilation of the greatest
hints from everyone on how to behave properly.
It might be extra fun if the teacher gave an example that
parodied something relating to the class as an example.
Information/Functional Texts
• A fact sheet on different cultures and their funeral traditions (countries that
wait for a few weeks before burying their dead, how expensive funerals are,
etc.) Could also do information on how funerals have changed in America in
the last 200 years.
o It may be especially
pertinent to focus on
funerals in the south
since the book is set in
Mississippi.
•
There are several other young
adult books that deal with the
topic of death of a loved
one/animal (A Taste of
Blackberries, Bridge to
Terabithia, Where the Red Fern
Grows, for example.)
• If you decide to do the “Top Ten
Tips” assignment, it may be a
good idea to bring in Dave Barry’s
“How to Win an Argument” as an example of that kind of writing in another
Newman, BYU, 2009form. Some of the article may be a little too much for younger students, but
you could do a “greatest hits” portion of his suggestions.
• Teachers who decide to teach this book should be prepared to address a wide
variety of experience with their students. Aside from providing a wide
variety of texts for students to use, the teacher should have researched ways
that people grieve ahead of time. http://www.hospicenet.org has a good
source on how to talk about death with children and teenagers.
Bird Picture Credits:
• http://www.wildbirds.com/Portals/0/images/birdphot.jpg
• http://www.ead.ae/Tacsoft/ImageGallery/News/World/060912-new-
bird_big.jpg
• http://media.canada.com/96274514-e813-4c74-972a-
6d2d9b889001/highwater-1.jpg
• http://www.hutterites.org/bridge/wp-
content/uploads/Village%20Weaver%20Bird%20001.jpg
• http://ricksphotopage.com/images/455_bird_flying_geese_b.jpg
• http://newtonknows.edublogs.org/files/2007/09/blue-bird-missouri.jpg
• Personal Photo
• http://farm1.static.flickr.com/175/372619268_f4c9621c03.jpg?v=0
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