Review for 'The Life of Bud' by Laura Eckroat

'The Life of Bud' by Laura Eckroat is a sweet, vividly illustrated story of the cycle of life. Bud enters life as, well, a bud. He goes through the cycles of life with the guidance of his fellow, more mature leaves. As Bud reaches each stage of his life, his fellow leaves explain that each season is natural and should be embraced. Bud has wonderful memories of each experience of the seasons and is sad to know that it all comes to an end eventually.
This is a gentle and loving way to explain the facts of death to younger children, it nicely ends with the explaination that life will continue. The only reason I didn't give it a 5 star rating is that younger children might need further explaination on what the story is saying. That being said, it is a great way to open the door for conversation.
I would recommend this book to anyone with children, to teachers, for churches, pre-schools and grandparents. It is a beautifully written and lovingly illustrated book.