My Grandmother is Always With Me

The death of a loved one is a tragedy that affects us all.  While adults have emotional resources to make sense out of death and grief, children are highly vulnerable to the emotional roller coaster that can accompany death and require special guidance and care.  In her quest to provide her readers better ways to cope with death and grief, author Lorraine Hedtke presents her innovative picture book My Grandmother is Always With Me: A remembering Journey.

My Grandmother is Always With Me addresses death and grief from a child’s perspective co-written by a twelve-year-old “expert” and a professional counselor, the book tells the story about a very special connection between a young girl and her deceased grandmother.  Through their relationship, readers can gain new insight as to what is helpful to honor, love and remember a relationship.  The story also provides unique and effective ways to handle the crisis of death and assist in making supportive meaning for children by focusing on the love and stories that remain after a person, or pet, died.

Heartwarming, richly-layered, and touching, My Grandmother is Always With Me will undoubtedly inspire both children (age six to twelve) and adults and even help them gain strength by knowing that the best of a relationship can live on in stories, practices, and rituals long after a person dies.  The examples, pictures and story of the book invite the reader into entry points to build connections to those who have died by remembering whether that is a grandmother or another important grown-up in the lives of children.

Adults who assist children through these events are offered “a grown-up’s guide to remembering” to further explain the importance of remembering with practical and easy to understand suggestions. The ideas in Hedtke’s book are a distinctive departure from theories on grief as they suggest death and grief are times to tell stories and stay connected as a more respectful and effective step for grieving.