Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Memories of grandfather comfort girl in sweet grief tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
I MISS YOU MOST begins at the dinner table, where a little girl is ignoring her parents and her bowl and thinking about her grandfather, whom she's clearly lost. She addresses him directly in her thoughts. "I miss you most at dinner when seafood stew is served./ I miss you in the ocean waves that crash and splash and swerve." She keeps recollecting their sweet moments together in rhyming couplets, and her mom reminds her that he's always with her. She begins to cheer up, remembering good times and feeling her lasting connection to him. "I see you in the glowing screen of games played late at night./ You're with me in the twists and turns of the stories that I write." The story ends on an upbeat note: "So when I miss you dearly, which is almost every day,/ I know your love is with me and will never go away."
Is It Any Good?
This warm, sensitive book captures how grief can be deep and sad but shows there's comfort in recalling the good times you and your loved one shared. I Miss You Most tackles a complex topic with nuance and respect for a kid's feelings. Author Charlotte Cheng finds clever, poetic ways to convey what loss feels like. And Xindi Yan's digital illustrations go from real-life sadness and loneliness to the fanciful joy of the little girl's happy memories, adding swoops of transparent golden color to indicate the grandfather's enduring influence on her: "I feel you when I'm reading, in each lesson that I've learned./ But most of all I feel you in each kindness I return."
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how missing a loved one is shown in I Miss You Most. What would you remember most about someone close to you? What things have you done together that stand out in your memory?
How is the color the illustrator uses on on pages portraying a memory different from the colors she uses on pages that show things happening in the girl's life now? Why do you think the illustrator drew the pictures this way?
How does sharing her feelings with her parents help the little girl in the story? Why is communication between parents and kids important?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Xindi Yan
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Family Stories ( Dads , Grandparents , Moms )
- Character Strengths : Communication , Empathy , Perseverance
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Rocky Pond Books
- Publication date : August 27, 2024
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
- Number of pages : 40
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Award : Common Sense Selection
- Last updated : July 28, 2026
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