The Rough Patch by Brian Lies

In this beautifully illustrated book, a fox named Evan has a pet dog who is his best friend. They do everything together, from eating ice cream to gardening. One day, Evan’s dog dies and he is distraught with grief. In his anger, he destroys the magnificent garden he and his dog had spent countless hours growing and tending. When weeds start to invade, Evan allows them to take over. The state of the garden matches how he feels. However, one day a pumpkin vine creeps in under a fence and Evan starts to give it attention and weed the garden around the vine. He takes the huge pumpkin he grows to the county fair and wins third prize, where he has to pick between $10 or a new puppy. The last picture shows Evan driving home with a puppy sitting beside him in his truck.

I absolutely love this picture book. The illustrations are wonderful. The plot of the book does walk through a sad time when Evan’s dog dies, but ends with hope. This book helps walk through grief with fictional characters and a visual representation of Evan’s garden and how our emotions can sometimes feel. The pumpkin vine represents hope and in the end, Evan’s life looks different, but it’s still good. Plus, he chooses a puppy as his prize and we can infer his heart is now ready to move forward. You may want to avoid it if you have a very sensitive reader, or if a loss is still very real and raw for your children.

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1. Is there someone you love doing everything with, just like Evan and his dog?
2. Have you ever made a poor choice when angry, like when Evan hacks his garden to bits?
3. If you were Evan, would you choose the $10 prize or the new puppy?