Author: Charlotte Agell
Illustrator: Ana Ramírez González
Publisher & Year: Scholastic Press • 2019
ISBN: 978-1338214888
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Picture Book • 40 pages • Ages 4–7 • Available in English
Maybe Tomorrow tells the story of Elba, a young hippo grieving the death of her friend Little Bird. Overwhelmed by sadness, Elba carries her grief as a heavy presence, unsure when she will feel better or how to move forward.
Norris, a crocodile who never knew Little Bird, chooses to sit with Elba in her sadness. He explains that he does not need to know the friend who died to share the grief, because he knows Elba and cares about her pain. Together, they move through the days, allowing sadness to exist without trying to erase it.
Through gentle repetition and metaphor, the story shows that grief can be shared, carried, and slowly changed by connection. Healing is not promised or rushed, but emerges gradually, maybe tomorrow, through companionship, emotional validation, and time.
The illustrations use a soft yet expressive palette that shifts with Elba’s emotional state. Periods of deep sadness are marked by darker, heavier backgrounds, while moments of connection introduce brighter tones and warmth. Sadness is physically represented as a large, heavy box that Elba carries, visually conveying the weight and persistence of grief.
Norris is illustrated in brighter colors and often accompanied by butterflies, creating gentle contrast without overpowering Elba’s experience. As the story progresses, the box slowly becomes smaller, reflecting how grief can change over time when it is shared. The combination of color shifts, recurring symbols, and visual metaphor helps young readers understand sadness as something real, heavy, and movable, without suggesting it must disappear.
• Family Use
Supports families navigating the death of a friend or loved one by modeling how grief can be shared without pressure to feel better. The story helps children understand that sadness may feel heavy and last over time, and that caring relationships can make grief easier to carry. The box metaphor offers a concrete way for families to talk about emotional weight and gradual change.
• Therapy / Counseling
Useful for bibliotherapy focused on emotional validation and shared affect. The book supports conversations about grief, emotional withdrawal, and the experience of having one’s sadness mirrored rather than fixed. The visual metaphors (the box, color shifts, butterflies) can be used to help children externalize and describe their feelings.
• Grief Support Settings
Provides a gentle, developmentally appropriate text for group or individual grief work, especially for children who struggle to articulate emotions verbally. Encourages discussion about how grief can change shape over time and how companionship can ease emotional burden without erasing loss.
• Individual Reading
Well-suited for quiet, reflective reading by children who process grief internally. The slow pacing and repetition allow readers to sit with the story at their own speed, making it appropriate for revisiting during different stages of grief.
Themes: emotional expression, Grief & Loss, healing
Topics: Death of a Friend, Emotional Validation, Grief
Tone: Contemplative, Quiet, Tender
No major literary awards or national bestseller lists currently associated with this title.
Genre: Animal Allegory, Bibliotherapy
Age range: Early Childhood (4-7)