A Book Review from Books At a Glance
by Kristin Stiles
One of the terrible things about living in a fallen world is that children often experience the death of someone they love. I distinctly remember the day when I was 7 years old that I found out my grandfather passed away from a sudden and unexpected heart attack. It was the first time I remember ever seeing my father cry. Death is awful. Death is our enemy. Death produces emotions and confusion in children that can leave scars for a lifetime if the loving adults around them do not help them process this experience. Praise God that as Christians, we not only have answers to some of the difficult questions, but more importantly, we have the presence of our Lord and the hope of heaven! This book makes all of that accessible and understandable to small children.
Darby Strickland has done a masterful job in putting together this sweet story. Sunny, a little bluebird, is devasted because her friend, Wren, has died. She can’t bring herself to sing her sweet songs anymore. She feels guilty if she wakes up happy in the morning, having forgotten for the smallest amount of time that her friend is gone. She feels sick and she wants to be alone. Her mom and her neighboring birds notice the change in this usually cheerful bird, and being aware of the recent occurrence, gently come to her aid. In turn, they encourage her to speak of her grief and her concerns and her confusion. They comfort her with words from scripture and the promises that are contained in it. They direct her to bring her sadness and cares to God in prayer. And they help her find meaningful ways to remember her friend.
The sweetness and delicacy with which this topic is handled is truly endearing. There’s no indication that Sunny is instantly over her grief or that this process can be done quickly. Childhood grief is viewed as weighty and important and something that shouldn’t be ignored or dismissed.
Following the story, there are several pages directed to parents with very practical suggestions for helping a child deal with the death of a loved one. The focus is on lamenting the loss and what that means biblically. There are tips for “teaching your child to lament loss” and also steps for helping your child “build a lament.” Strickland includes several verses that she labels “tender comforts for times of loss” and then gives more than a dozen “ideas for remembering a loved one.” If all this isn’t enough, there is one more clincher that struck me as the most precious idea — you can purchase a Sunny Plushy from the publisher that looks just like the sweet character in the book. This little stuffed animal would be a wonderful tangible item for a child to carry around to remind him/her of all the wonderful lessons taught in this book. I’m usually cynical about merchandising, but this one really makes sense to me.
I absolutely love this book. What a wonderful resource it would be for a family helping a child deal with loss.
Kristin Stiles is a home-school mom, a Sunday School teacher, and helps lead the “Young, Reading, & Reformed” children’s ministry at Reformed Baptist Church of Franconia, PA.