The Fix-it man by Dimity Powell illustrated by Nicky Johnston

I had not seen this book from 2017. I picked it up at the library where I volunteer at Westmead Children's Hospital.  The little girl loves the way her dad can repair things but what about mum? At first we see her sitting and watching as the girl and her dad work together. You might notice mum has a rug over her knees and a scarf tied over her hair perhaps showing she has been having chemotherapy. 

"She's too sore on the inside to help us, but her fingers still work fine."

Closer look shows mum is adding ribbons to a hoop. 

"Dad makes Mama's bad days better too, with his soothing peach and honey brew."

The teapot breaks but dad is able to mend it - well it is almost as good as new - but then on turning the page (even though the text does not directly say the words) we know her Mama has died. On early pages the picture frames in the lounge room are filled with happy images of their family of three. Now the page is monotone, and the picture frames are empty. Mum's wool basket sits to one side untouched. Tea does spill out of the teapot - the cracks are too wide - just like the cracks in their hearts.

Bookseller blurb: It's handy having a dad who can fix just about anything. A young girl believes her father is the king of fixing things, but following the death of her mother, she discovers that broken hearts are not as easy to repair as damaged toys and cracked teapots. Together, she and her father find a way to glue back the pieces of their lives. The Fix-It Man is a poignant picture book that explores how a child can cope with the loss of a parent (in this case, the young girl's mother). Repairing damaged emotions is not as straightforward as gluing a broken kite back together or sewing up a torn toy. And grief affects all members of a family, with each responding in their own way to the loss. By sticking with her father, the young girl is able to strengthen her resilience and ability to cope with one of life's harshest experiences.

This is a book where the cover does not really hint at the content - this is a book adults should read first to check your child is ready for this story which deals with the illness and death of a parent. Please take a minute to read my previous post about books that deal with death and the timing for reading them. Read what Dimity Powell says about her book. From her link you can also read a large number of review comments. Here is a link to the trailer - the soundtrack might make you cry now that you know that the mum has died. 

This is a poignant story of loss and one that will resonate with many children who have lost a parent or other loved one.  With its gentle text and soft palette, even though it is sad it is not gloomy because the love between this family oozes from the page and from that, the hope is tangible. ... Grief is a natural part of life and while we might like to protect our children from it, nevertheless it happens and we often struggle helping them to cope with their loss.  This book allows conversations to start and explores the way it is an emotion that we each express and deal with in our own way. The Bottom Shelf