This book is about a boy that is the oldest of 6 children. Ciff feels like his life is a bowl of mush. Cliff wants to remember some things, but also forget things also. This story explains the challenges of growing up in a large family. One of the siblings dies in this book. This book is interesting way to see how a family copes with loss in a comedic way. ( )

In Fig Pudding the boy, Cliff is the oldest of six children. The book tells the story of Cliff and his family. It talks about the up and downs that Cliff goes through as a teenager and as the oldest child. One of the biggest things that Cliff as to deal with is the responsibility of watching his younger siblings. During the book Brad, the gullible second-youngest ran into the back of a car while riding his bike. It resulted in the death of Brad. This made the rest of the year very different. The family had to cope with the lost of their family member. By the end of book the family had learned how to make the best of what the Christmas and they find ways to remember Brad even though he is not with them anymore.

I liked this book. It had a good message and it shows how you can make the best out of anything. Either though the family had many obstacles the family stuck together. This book really touched me. I cried while I was reading this book. It was very sweet and I really enjoyed reading this book. I would tell anyone who is having a hard time with family or even who friends to read this book. After you read it you will realize that the little things don’t matter, you are family first no matter what and they will always be there for you.

In the classroom, I might have the kids make fig pudding. I also might make a fake fishing pond out of a little pool and put fake fish in there and let the student’s fish. I also might have the students think of other ways the family could have still remembered Brad.

Cliff is the oldest of six children and tells the story of a year in his family's life. The family has the normal ups and downs of family life, but this year is different as this year brings the death of Brad, the gullible second-youngest. One of the best descriptions of the grief process are shared with Cliff by his Uncle Billy, a war veteran:

"When someone you love dies, you get a big bowl of sadness put down in front of you, steaming hot. You can start eating now, or you can let it cool and eat it bit by bit later one. Either way, you end up eating the whole thing. There's really no way around it."

Good book, although it has sad parts. ( )

I have read very little Children's Lit in recent years but did enjoy reading this one before passing it on to my granddaughter who also enjoyed it.

Fifth-grader Cliff Abernathy has come to realize that being the oldest of six children is not just fun and games. The position comes with responsibilities. His parents expect him to help monitor the behavior of his little brothers and younger sister and he is often in trouble for falling down on the job. He definitely enjoys the perks of being the oldest but sometimes he wonders if they are really a good trade-off for the extra work his parents expect of him.

In Fig Pudding, Cliff shares his memories of everything that happened to him and his family in the past year,twelve months that includes things he wants to remember forever and one or two that he just wishes he could forget. The Abernathy kids have distinct personalities and Ralph Fletcher gives each of the kids a chance to shine in a chapter of his own.

There is Josh, only three years old and the youngest, who has to spend Christmas Eve in the hospital and desperately wants a “yidda yadda” from Santa, a gift request that has the whole family confused. Teddy is the hyperactive second-grader who spends so much time sitting under the kitchen table where his mother can keep an eye on him that he starts to like it under there and considers it to be his special playroom. Cyn, the only girl in the family, decides to “adopt” a new family and spends more time with them than she does at home. Cliff and Nate learn some things about themselves and each other as the result of a couple of fishing trips, and Brad, the most easy going of all the children, surprises everyone, and probably himself, with the Easter prank that he pulls on the whole family.

Fig Pudding is generally aimed at readers age 9-12 but readers of all ages will be touched by the tragic accident that claims the life of one of the boys. Each member of the family has to work through his own grief, anger and confusion in order to come to grips with what has so shaken them all but they finally come to understand that their lost son and brother will be alive forever as they celebrate his memory.

Ralph Fletcher cleverly ends Fig Pudding on a comic note by devoting the last chapter to the way that young Josh accidentally adds a “secret ingredient” to his father’s fig pudding, a dish that the Abernathy family traditionally carries to a large family gathering every year. It has never tasted better than it does this year – even with Josh’s help. This is one of those books that might well have children shedding a few tears as they read one chapter and laughing out loud during the next one, just like life in the real world.

Rated at: 5.0 ( )