Our Father Who Art In A Tree

Simone, a 10-year-old Australian girl, loses her father to heart disease. Everyone in her family is consumed by grief and her only solace is climbing the huge Poinciana tree in their backyard because she has thought, "If you climbed high enough in the tree in our backyard you came to another world". Her suspicions are confirmed when she hears her father's voice in the highest branches. Simone tells her mother of this discovery and persuades her to climb the tree, where she too spends time with her deceased husband. This situation, however, keeps the family from moving on. The tree grows larger and basically uproots the house itself, and with it, the family. A story about grief, love and moving on. Beautiful and lovely…makes death seem such a part of life. I also loved the cover art…gorgeous. Book #51 of my 2006 Book List, finished reading it on 10-23-06.

This is a surrealist story about exactly what the title says. The young narrator's father dies and instead of going to heaven, he resides in this tree in the backyard. At times, I felt the author took the surrealism a bit too far. But it didn't mar my enjoyment of the story. I definitely rushed through my students' papers so I could get back to this!

Good.

When Simone hears her dead father's voice seemingly coming from a huge tree in her family's back yard, she begins talking back to him. She then climbs to the top and discovers they can have conversations that help her stay close. She decides to tell her grieving mother what's going on.<br /><br />The family dynamics, naturally, have changed since Dad dies with Mom nearly unable to function and keep house for her four children. When she begins conversing with her husband in the top of the tree, she comes alive for awhile.<br /><br />But "Our Father" isn't just about talking to Dad. It's about how all our relationships can change after a loved one dies. Some people become more helpful; others will help initially (or promise to) then drift away when our pain is too difficult for them. <br /><br />Simone's best friend and she become distant. Her three brothers are each affected by Dad's death differently, depending on their ages and temperaments. Mom is falling apart. The story deals with truths about our faith, our love, and our hope.<br /><br />I mention this as a coming-of-age story and for young adults (see my Goodreads shelves) because I figure if "The Book Thief" is suitable for young adults, so is "Our Father Who Art in a Tree." The subject matter is death, but there are valuable lessons for and sometimes reminders about the grief process--how we grieve ourselves, and how we can help others move through their grief.<br /><br />

A beautiful and comforting story.<br /><br />As I was cleaning out my messy study, I found some notes I'd written about this book, in connection with an essay on modern fiction and mourning, written for the Ames Tribune.<br /><br />Simone loses her dad at age 10. The book begins: "It was simple for me; the saints were in heaven and guardian angels had extendable wings like Batman and my dad had died and gone to live in a tree in the backyard."<br /><br />One of my favorite things about this book is that it talks about loss through the eyes of a child, without any sugar-coating. It is a good read for anyone who is missing someone.

I'm not going to lie, I probably wouldn't have read this book if not for the catchy title and tasteful cover. Seeing things through the eyes of an innocent child has opened up my eyes to a lot of things and gave me a new perspective on my own mother. This short book was the perfect accessory for a quiet afternoon at the park~!

Líbil se mi obsah, forma už tolik ne. Úplně mi nesedl způsob vyprávění. Čím se ale kniha rozhodně může pochlubit jsou reálné chaaktery a velmi věrohodný průběh vyrovnávání se se ztrátou. Takže celkově 3* :)v

"'Simone,' I could hear my mother. The screen on the back door softened her voice and gave it a lilac tone." 9<br /><br />"I didn't understand that you could be taught about the mystical but forbidden to believe in it, seek it out, or enjoy it." 84<br /><br />"I handed her the smooth rock. I had realized when I picked it up how happy I was that I wasn't a rock, that I was a girl, and I could have been a rock, but I wasn't. It was smooth quartz." 93<br /><br />"The mountains at the back of the house held such promise. I wished I were a traveler. I could keep walking toward the line of lilac and green humps set against the ocean of sky." 96<br /><br />"I miss the freedom though of interpreting the clouds with her from our great swing and the freedom of being a child at dusk." 194

Pleasant to read, but its description of the storm near the end and the book’s symbolism throughout it work against the grief and nicely imaginative realism of the 10-year-old narrator. I missed knowing much about the deceased father, his personality, his memorable qualities; he too seems merely symbolic until descriptions of him appear near the middle of the story.

I enjoyed it. A young girl makes peace with her fathers passing by imagining his spirit living on in the tree at the bottom of the garden. A touching coping mechanism when one doesn't wish to let go.