By Steven Salerno
Tackles: Death of a pet, Grief, Funerals
Age Range: 6-8 years
Genre: Picture book
Tim’s Goodbye tells the story of a little girl named Margot who loses her pet turtle, Tim. Margot is feeling sad after Tim’s death and her friends all come together to play music and send Tim off in a box with some balloons and Margot imagined him in a happy place.
The animation in this book is simple and to the point with a plain yellow background and the wording is simple. There isn’t a direct mention of death, but it is understood that Tim has died. The book also focuses on the comfort of Margot’s friends, and in the end depicts Tim in a better place, and Margot feels comforted by that idea. I think that not only focusing on death but the grief process and having support from friends and finding peace makes this book a great tool to explain death to a child. This book focuses on the death of a pet which is usually a child’s first brush with death, and I don’t think it would translate well into the death of a loved one.
Overall, this books is a good introduction to death and grief for children. It discusses sadness, support, letting go, and finding peace with simple animations and clear words.
9 out of 10 balloons.
Buy it here.
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