This book discusses the many things in life that change and go away in a neutral way. Examples are sleep, small wounds, leaves, tears, and baby teeth. Each page spread has a transparent sheet which shows something from the illustration going away. At the end of the book, the one thing that remains is love.

This is a good book for introducing loss gently to children, and touches on a variety of experiences they may find difficult. It does not discuss death directly.

Picture-book author and artist Béatrice Alemagna explores the impermanence of the world, and of most of human experience in this lovely work, describing and depicting any number of things that go away. From music flying away to dark thoughts fading, from fear dissipating to hair falling out - nothing lasts forever. Nothing, that is, save the love of one's mother...

Originally published in French as Choses qui s'en vont, and alternatively translated into English as Forever (UK) and as Things That Go Away (USA), this smallish picture-book features an interesting design. A sheer, vellum-like page is used to separate the two sides of each two-page spread, producing a slight difference in appearance when turned, that demonstrates the change created when each item or experience being described disappears. The illustrations themselves, done in oil paint, are naive but appealing, with the occasional flash of vivid color that I have come to associate with Alemagna's work, from her The Wonderful Fluffy Little Squishy to On a Magical Do-Nothing Day. The theme itself is engaging, although I wasn't quite as involved, emotionally speaking, as I expected to be, given my appreciation for the creator's past work, and the strong recommendation that came with this one, from an online friend. Still, I do recommend it, both to fellow admirers of Alemagna, and to picture-book readers looking for stories about the impermanence of most experience, and the deep and abiding love that parents have for their children. ( )

"In life, many things go away. They transform, they pass by."

Semi-transparent pages are used to great effect here, as each vellum-like page between the paper pages has a shape that overlays the picture beneath - on both sides of the page. (Falling leaves on the recto become a pattern on a sweater on the verso, etc.).

The one thing that doesn't go away? Love.

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Re-read June 2023 ( )

velum style paper carries images from one page to the other.
fun to read. ( )