WHERE DID BENJAMIN GO?

An illustrated love letter to a lost loved one.

On a snowy day, young Charlie is solemnly reminiscing about big sibling Benjamin until Daddy suggests that the young narrator make a list of things about Benjamin: “My top favorite things to do with you.” Watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations depict memories of the two smiling brown siblings—one tall, with cornrows and long, protective, curvy arms, the other smaller, wide-eyed, with short locs. Musical notes, flowers, and a football flow behind them. Charlie’s list is a long one that ranges from pickling vegetables to watching dolphins; it also includes “carousels / and bumper cars / and funnel cakes.” Benjamin’s absence is felt by Mommy and Daddy and even the piano, according to Charlie, who remembers the good times but visibly struggles today. As Charlie reflects on the pool game Marco Polo, the illustrations heartbreakingly show the child searching for a sibling who can no longer be found beneath the bed or in the bathroom. Both readers and Charlie are left to wonder, “Where did you go, Benjamin?” Though there isn’t a clear answer, the focus on the warm, flowery, exciting, and loving memories is as effective as it is bittersweet.

Big grief in a small package shows us a complicated sort of healing.