The Blue Pearls - Hardcover

Elizabeth Stuart Warfel (California and Scotland) When her daughter Elise died from cancer she was inspired to write this beautiful story, in the hope that it would bring comfort to those facing grief and loss. She divides her time between California and Aberlady, East Lothian, Scotland. This is her first book. Veronique Giarrusso (Bath) Veronique Giarrusso was born in France and is now a full-time artist and printmaker, living and working in Bath with her husband Steve and their two children. The Blue Pearls is her first work for Barefoot Books.

Kindergarten-Grade 4-This story seeks to comfort those who are close to someone who is dying or those who have suffered the loss of a loved one by presenting a leave-taking and an arrival to the place where angels dwell. The angels make a beautiful blue dress for a young woman whose arrival is imminent, but they can't locate the blue pearls necessary for the bodice. They search as Elise prepares to leave her children, teaching them what matters most: to love and be loved. The head angel at last finds a special oyster that creates the pearls and the smallest angel is sent to fetch them. At last, when the dress is finished, one angel announces, "She's here!" The calm sense of preparation for and acceptance of death at the story's end is indeed comforting, and the single picture of Elise lovingly embracing her three children is somber but not filled with grief. The welcoming angels, depicted with acrylics and mixed media in a blocky style reminiscent of Picasso's early artwork and arranged in friezes and arcs, are set against vibrant blues and greens out of which the youngest angel's orange and scarlet dress stands dramatically. A "higher power" speaks once but the story's message is timeless and doctrineless.
Susan Hepler, Burgundy Farm Country Day School, Alexandria, VA
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