The Tenth Good Thing About Barney
Judith Viorst Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Tenth Good Thing About Barney

"This book is absolutely, without a doubt, a great book for younger children to cope with the loss of a pet. This book, however, would not be appropriate for the loss of a human life. The author lets the reader know that it is OK to feel sad, to not want to watch TV, or to eat or to go outside and play. But most important of all, that it is OK to cry and feel sad.

The mother and father hold a backyard funeral for Barney, the beloved deceased cat, and the little boy comes up with nine good things to say about Barney. Afterwards, when they plant flowers, he can come up with the tenth good thing about Barney.

Older children will find this too 'babyish', I believe, but this book was perfect for my younger children when our beloved dog, Snowball died. Our vet gave us this book, along with the Rainbow Bridge poem. It was very comforting.

The book conveys that we have to honor the grieving and the questions of children as they mourn their beloved pet, whether it is a fish, a dog, a cow, a horse, or whatever pet that is so important to them. The value of a 'ceremony' is just as important for closure and very important for a small child.

I highly recommend this tender book.
"
Judith E. Pavluvcik, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Tenth Good Thing About Barney

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - thoughtful
Time/era of story - present (2000-2010)
Animal story Yes
Kind of animal: - cat
Is this an adult or child's book? - Age 7-10

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - student
Age: - a kid
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events? Yes
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 2 ()
Small town? Yes

Style
Accounts of torture and death? - moderately detailed references to deaths
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript

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Judith Viorst Book Review