Chip

by Federico Gastaldi

A young boy grieves when his pet fish dies, but his heart is full of the good memories he had with his fish friend.

Genres: Picture Books, Pets, Death, Grief, Animals

40 pages, Hardcover

Published October 17, 2023

Reviews

[Cara Byrne]

When Atticus comes down the stairs one day, he finds his beloved goldfish Chip missing. When he asks grown-ups what happened, he gets vague comments like "Chip has moved on," "Chip is gone," and "Chip is in a better place" and imagines what that means without fully understanding that Chip is dead. However, Atticus realizes that his beloved fish isn't coming back, and his grief is eased by cherishing memories.

[Susan Rose]

Chip is Atticus' fish. One day Chip dies. This is an excellent introduction for young children how to negotiate the confusion and euphemisms of talking about death. In the end, Atticus realizes that he has his memories of his friend. This is a very useful first step in helping young children process the loss of a pet, or other losses in their lives.

[ErinTheLibrarian]

beloved goldfish is not in his bowl. People use euphemisms to explain that Chip died. Boy (white?) finally understands and gradually remembers the good memories.
Spare text. Predominantly orange and purple.

[Sarah Threlkeld]

Simple, lovely story about a child being confused by his goldfish’s death (the adults don’t give him a straight answer) and finding comfort in his memories of their time together.

[skcocnaH]

The picture with the grandma floating beside chip on a couple balloons, trying to hand him a cookie, is everything!

[Y.Poston]

a child's exploration of death of a pet &
what grown-ups say about a pet who's "gone on"

[Rolf]

A sweet way to introduce mortality with the story of a pet goldfish that died.