This quote along with the story is a good way to encourage children to discuss and process grief in a comforting way.  Helping to understand that death is part of life, no matter your culture or spiritual beliefs.  

 This remarkable picture book narrates and illustrates Helen’s world from frustrations of being unable to communicate to finding the W-O-R-D-S to express “the world in her heart.”    The setting begins with what Helen could sense from the summer day warmth as she waited to taste the delightful sweet smell of the cake baking.  The collaboration of the author and illustration captivatingly portrays what Helen was sensing in a way that brings the reader into those senses.   The story then traces back to how an illness took Helen’s since of seeing and hearing and how Helen’s family has worked to help her to learn to communicate.  Then the story reveals how Helen’s life changed forever with the help of a “stranger”, Annie Sullivan.  Annie was Helen’s teacher that opened up the world of words and opened up “the world in her heart” to communicate.  

 This quote defines a heartfelt longing of the animals in this story.  Ivan, a “mighty” silverback gorilla, that has been raised in captivity and his friend Stella, an elephant that had been raised in the circus, long for a life in the zoo.  Stella would tell Ivan and the other animals about her experiences with humans at the circus and  they also talked about how they came to the The Big Top Mall and Video Arcade.  Ivan made a promise to Stella to take care of Ruby, the baby elephant.  Ruby, like Stella, had come from a circus where she was treated badly.  After Stella passed, Ivan told stories to Ruby and that he would save her by taking her to the zoo where “humans make amends”  

This story is a good teaching story since it is based on a true story about life story of a Gorilla that lives in Atlanta zoo.  Children can learn about zoo’s , circus’s, and treatment of animals in captivity and how these animals exist in the their habitat.
http://theoneandonlyivan.com/

This is an effective book and fun story to teach children cause and effect, play the gossip game is a good activity for teaching this book.  

There are many activities and lessons that can be used when teaching this book; sequencing, history, geography and more.  See the following we sites for information about lesson planning Why Mosquitoes Buzz in People’s Ears.

 http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/dawes.htm
http://www.bookrags.com/lessonplan/the-round-house/funactivities.html#gsc.tab=0