Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
Allhallowtide has become a special season in our home. We have chosen to embrace the season as a time to reflect on the ways we are living the Kingdom of God on earth. As well as the call to show mercy, and mourn with those who mourn. However, there are very few children’s books on the market that do a good job of explaining the observance of All Souls Day to littles. In fact, Popi’s All Souls Song is the only book I have ever found that explores the liturgical tradition of All Souls Day.
Journey with Mara as she grieves the passing of her Popi and learns what it means to mourn with those who mourn, and recieves the comfort of others who remember her Popi during All Souls Day.
What is it?
Mara spends every All Souls Day with her grandparents, travelling door-to door, and singing to those who have lost someone in the past year. However, this hear Mara’s grandfather, Popi, has passed away. Mara experiences grief as she journey’s with her grandmother door to door, carrying the weight of comforting others, while also needing comfort herself.
Half-way through the book, Mara notices that her grandmother, Nene, is also grieving. Mara convinces Nene to go home and rest, while Mara continues the walk, singing to their neighbors.
At the end, Mara returns home to a very tired Nene, but urges Nene to come outside for a surprise. There they find the neighborhood gathered, singing in Popi’s honor. Together the community mourns together, and remembers their loved ones who have passed away, while also remembering they are not alone in their grief.
Finally, the book concludes with an information page about the origins of All Souls Day. People who are not apart of a liturgical tradition may not know that is is a deeply Christian tradition. The day commemorates (or remembers) All the Faithful Departed.
Christian monks began the All Souls’ Day tradition around the ninth century as a day to pray for Christians who had passed away (again, this was while Catholicism was the main Christian sect, and purgatory was a widely accepted doctrine). In 1915 Pope Benedict XV spread this tradition to the rest of the Catholic Church due to the great number of lives lost during World War I.
Whether we adhere to the doctrine of purgatory or not, this can still be a wholesome tradition. For those who are grieving the loss of a loved one, it can be a time to remember in community, as opposed to remembering alone. For those who are not grieving, it can be a time of reflection, recognizing those in our community who will grieving as we go into this holiday season. It should cause us to look for ways to minister to those who are grieving in the holidays and be intentional about inviting them into community so that they do not have to grieve alone. It is an act of mercy to care for those who have experience loss.
What I Love
As my family has become more intentional about observing the Church Calendar, I have found books to be a fantastic resource in supplementing our prayer times. However, I have never found an All Souls Day book before now. Popi’s All Souls Song is truly one of a kind.
I love that this book gently shares some of the traditions associated with the day, as well as grief experienced through the eyes of a child.
The book is largely story. Readers experienc All Souls Day through the traditions of this family. There are no fact presented, or liturgies to be read. Instead, we see the act of grieving in community played out within the pages. As Mara’s family has been faithful to ‘show-up’ for their grieving community in the past. So when their family experiences grief, so the community shows up for them. That is true essence of All Souls Day. To mourn with those who mourn.
As the Western World continues to separate itself from a liturgical tradition, and Christianity as a whole, practices such as this and their Christian roots have also been lost. This book does a beautiful job of reintroducing this discipline for families who treasure the Church year and their littles.
Another note is the illustrations are gorgeous! I wish they had prints available of some of these pages, because I would hang them on my walls. The watercolor work is fantastic.
Things I Wish Were Different
As All Souls Day is rooted in the Christian tradition, it would have been nice to see more reference to this with into the story. The ‘About All Souls’ Day’ page at the end of the book is the only reference to Christianity. As this is a tradition that many Christians in the west are not aware of, it could have been helpful to show more of the spiritual significance of this day throughout the pages. Though as the book is, I think it can still foster faith-filled conversations for those who embrace the liturgical calendar.
In Conclusion
I think this is a fantastic read for families that have embraced the liturgical calendar and are looking for child-friendly resources surrounding All Souls’ Day. In our family, we are connected to several people who have experienced loss in the past year. This book has fostered conversation on what grief can look like during the holidays, and how we can love our neighbors well. We have the hope of Christ in our hearts that leads us to know that Jesus is in the work of making all things right in the world. Death is a reminder that we are still in the not yet. Let us be people of the Kingdom, showing up for those who have experienced the brokeness of this world through the death of a loved one. May we extend the kindness and love of God, like Jesus when he wept with Mary and Martha (John 11:34). And do what we can to love our neighbors well.
Baby Devotions 