When Pets Die

Mister Rogers shows a glass ball that has a town scene inside it which looks as if it were snowing when turned upside down. He says that every snowflake in the world has a unique pattern and sings “You Are Special.” Mr. McFeely brings over a dead bird and asks for a box so he can bury it. Mister Rogers talks about how sad he felt when his cat Sybil died, but how the good memories he has of her make him feel good. He shows a picture of Sybil. In the Neighborhood of Make-Believe, Handyman Negri plays his guitar for the King’s wooden birds. King Friday says that he does not want his wooden birds to die like the live pet bird he once had, whose name was Cherry. Handyman explains the difference between live and wooden birds. Henrietta is dressed up and tells Lady Aberlin and X that she is imagining what it would be like to be older and dying. X and Lady Aberlin answer that they like her the way she is. Daniel and Lady Aberlin imagine that his toy truck can fly. Daniel wonders if his toy truck might die, but Lady Aberlin assures him that things like his truck, which aren’t born and live and grow, don’t die. Lady Aberlin and Trolley show Handyman how Trolley can show pictures of the past. Mister Rogers reads “When Pets Die” and says that pets are different from toys because they need love and care, but toys are OK to pretend with. The book discusses the range of emotions a child may feel when they lose a pet, and Mister Rogers talks about uniqueness and life.