Help Me Say Goodbye: Activities for Helping Kids Cope When a Special Person Dies

Help Me Say Goodbye is an excellent aid for parents and others dealing with children grieving at the loss of a loved one. Over time, the exercises and discussions they engender with grieving children open up the child's understanding of their own grief and the grief process. It is good for very young children, who often have difficulty expressing some of the confusing and conflicting thoughts one has when a loved one dies. The activities in the book are respectful of feelings small children have, and encourages all attempts at expression of complicated feelings. The workbook can be used again and again as the child works his/her way through feelings found in the different phases of grief. This is another book I have sent to orphanages in Africa, and also to caretakers of children who have just lost a parent. It has proven to be helpful and comforting in all circumstances. The book has also had the perhaps unintended effect of making children more sensitive to and compassionate about an adult's grief. Excellent for families.

When my husband died a few months ago, our children were only 2 and 4 years old, they were not sure what was going on but I found this book a few weeks before he passed away and I was able to start talking to them and showing them the activities in this book. His slow decent as the Cancer took over gave us the time to start before he died, but this book would be very helpful for sudden deaths as well. My four year old did one of the ideas from this book, making a memory table at the funeral and filling it with items that reminded him of his father, it was a very touching moment when people learned what the table represented. I would recommend this for sure, I even gave a copy to my son's preschool to use when other children need to learn to say goodbye to someone they love.

I'm a social worker by trade and counsel children and adolescents. I recently purchased multiple books for a boy who is 7 and recently lost his father. Of the books I purchased, I found this to be the best of the interactive books. Not only does it guide you, as a parents or loving adult to assist a child talk and express their feelings about their lost loved one, it also helps the person who is doing the activities with the child. When an adult is grieving while also trying to care for a child, it can be hard to find the energy to go beyond activities of daily living. This books spells it all out for you so there is little thought involved no the part of the adult.

I ordered this book a little too late, but it would be amazing to help a child whose loved one is dying. If I had known that this book was written as it is, I would have ordered it a month earlier (as soon as he went under Hospice care) for my 5 and 3 year old sons. My husband had cancer for two years, and we just thought he had more time, but his illness progressed very rapidly at the end.

This book is geared more towards the child dealing with the terminal illness of a loved one. I wish I had it when we first learned of our grandmother's terminal condition. It does a good job explaining what is happening to the body & also what to expect when it comes time for a funeral. It doesn't give much help for the child dealing with the grief after the person passes away. There were a couple of good suggestions like creating a memory box or sending a balloon message after the person passes away. However, I wish there were more suggestions or activities to help the child dealing with grief after the death of the person.

Great activity book for children (and adults) to find voice and affirmation for their feelings related to grief and loss. It can easily be adapted for any age using an assortment of mediums used in art therapy and creative writing. It is a book that a child and adult will go back to time and time again to work through and provide a starter for difficult conversations. It came to me at an important time when I needed resources for my niece and nephew and their children when my sister died after a very brief illness. hELP ME SAY GOODBYE is a resource I will turn to many times in my practice as an MSW. Thank you.Mary

Great book used for kids in therapy

Half the book pertains to a person who is sick & dying. I needed it for a child who lost her father suddenly. The entire text of the book (activity suggestions) could have been printed on 1 - 2 pages. Most of it was space to draw in, which could more easily be done on your own paper. Not worth the cost + shipping.

This book is very simply laid out. Lots of suggestions of things to draw and write. The suggestion is generally at the top and room to draw or write underneath. There are lots of different suggestions so I'm sure most people will find this helpful for their children. It's just not fancy with lots of colours and pretty pictures

Not used as I probably didn't read the blurb properly its not what I expected an won't work with the age range of children I need it forIt may work in the future

Helped greatly on explaining the loss of a loved one to a 3yr old.And to the reader of this review;I'm sorry for your loss.

Great

Great for explaining death to children and helping them to say their own goodbye