SOME OF THE PIECES

Months after Dad's sudden death, a young boy reminisces about the family's happy times together as he goes with Mom and his little sister to scatter the last of Dad's ashes at a river; they have also put some in other places Dad loved—the ocean, their garden. In the carefully woven narrative, well-chosen specifics form a gentle picture of a family whose comforting memories are gradually transforming their sharp grief; in the end, the boy realizes that ``There's a part of Dad in us, too.'' Ray provides misty, beautifully constructed illustrations in muted tones, her generalized faces and settings lending the story universality. A good addition to its genre. (Picture book. 4-9)