The Tenth Good Thing About Barney: Amazon.ca: Judith Viorst, Erik Blegvad: Books

Product Description

Book Description

Barney was a cat. He died last Friday. And everyone was sad.

They did what most people do when a cat they like dies. They had a funeral. And then they tried to think of good things about him. They wanted to remember him as he was; and they thought about some other things, too.

Whenever a cat dies, or a dog, or a bird, or any friend, it can be a little like this story about Barney. since dying is as usual as living, it's good to know about him.

From the Publisher

Barney was a cat. He died last Friday. And everyone was sad. They did what most people do when a cat they like dies. They had a funeral. And then they tried to think of good things about him. They wanted to remember him as he was; and they thought about some other things, too. Whenever a cat dies, or a dog, or a bird, or any friend, it can be a little like this story about Barney. Since dying is as usual as living, it's good to know about him. END

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Inside This Book (Learn More)

First Sentence
My cat Barney died last Friday. Read the first page

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Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

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Customer Reviews

17 Reviews

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.6 out of 5 stars (17 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars tenth Good Thing About barney, Jan 18 2012

By

Chester Szymczak - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (Hardcover)

A good book but a little to old for a 3 year old to understand the death of his dog .

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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars You don't wanna know the 10th good thing, Feb 10 2004

By

beckyjean "beckyjean" (East Granby, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (Paperback)

I finally read this book after years and years of hearing it hyped as the perfect book to help a child deal with the loss of a pet, so I expected a lot.

It's not a bad book. I've always liked Judith Viorst's wry voice that seems to capture children's unsure moments so perfectly, and "...Barney" has a lot of that.

The particular details of the story are even good -- I love that the boy's mother wraps Barney in a piece of cloth before they bury him. I love that the boy's best friend attends the funeral to hear him recite the nine best things about Barney. I love the little argument they have after the funeral, about whether Barney is really in heaven, or if he's just in the ground.

But the book takes a jarring twist when the boy decides what the 10th good thing about Barney is. The 10th good thing is basically that Barney is dead and rotting. OK, OK -- dead and rotting and therefore helping flowers to grow. Life will come from his death, and yes, that is the message.

But really. Basically the 10th good thing about Barney is that he's dead and rotting. I'm a fairly morbid person, very interested in the process of death and decomposition, but I think the ending of this story is too morbid to present to young children at the end of this otherwise sweet, sentimental story. It doesn't seem to fit.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Simple and sensitive, for all ages, Feb 11 2003

By

Arlene Millman "chyron24" (Huntington, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (Paperback)

Beautifully simple and sensitive portrayel. Could be a comfort for all ages. Keep it in your library to read and reread. Similar to BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGY, which is also a tale for all ages about dealing with the pain of pet loss and grief.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book About Death from the Point of View of a Little Boy
The little boy who is the narrator of this book has just had his pet cat Barney die. He can only think of nine good things about Barney, until the day after the funeral, when he... Read more

Published on Jun 19 2002 by WhatNow

5.0 out of 5 stars A Truly Touching Book
I hadn't read this book in years, then we found out our cat was dying. This is going to be my husband's first pet loss, so I had to find this book. Read more

Published on Jun 2 2002