About This Book:
From Stonewall Award–winning illustrator Charlene Chua comes a tender, heartfelt story about love, loss, and the innumerable ways to carry someone in your heart, always, as a young girl honors her aunt’s memory by wearing the pink pajamas she sewed for her.
There are many ways of saying, “I love you.” For Ah Yi, it’s with her sewing machine, making extra soft, perfectly tailored pajamas for her niece. The little girl loves each pair, except the latest one which is pink, her least favorite color. She keeps a happy face on, but her aunt can always tell. She reassures the little girl there’s no need to worry—she’ll just make another pair.
But then Ah Yi gets too sick to use her sewing machine, so sick she has to go away to the hospital…and never comes home. Her niece doesn’t know what to make of the funeral customs until she finds her own special remembrance: wearing her pink pajamas, which were perfect all along.
*Review Contributed By Adrien Carter, Staff Reviewer*
Remembering Loved Ones and Honoring Them
The Pink Pajamas tells the story of Ah Yi, who loves sewing and makes soft, cozy, and perfect-length pajamas for her niece. The little girl has loved each pair of pajamas that Ah Yi has gifted her, except for the most recent ones, which are pink. She tries to pretend, but her aunt can tell and lets her know she’ll make her another pair. Unfortunately, Ah Yi gets sick and is away at the hospital, but she doesn’t come home. The little girl is confused by the funeral customs and how she fits into everything until she decides to wear her pink pajamas to remember Ah Yi.
What I Liked: The story opens by introducing you the a little girl who is visiting her extended family as she explains who Ah Yi is, and her favorite part about visiting her family. This is a fantastic opening to this heartwarming story because we get to see how important extended family is to this little girl and how much support she has around her.
The illustrations throughout this book are soft and pair well with the writing. The story comes to life as you see the images and the expressions on each character’s face, which do a great job of setting each scene. The shift in colors as Ah Yi goes into the hospital and then passes away does a great job of shifting the tone and makes the pink pajamas stand out as a special item, as they bring color back into the story.
Final Verdict: The Pink Pajamas is a heartwarming book about love and loss, and how to navigate grief. This is perfect for children who have lost a loved one and are struggling to navigate what comes next, and are looking for ways to remember those loved ones. The closing to this story is perfect as it shows how embracing loved ones’ hobbies can be a way of honoring them and remembering them, which is something that one might not originally think of when grieving.
