Because her mom's death causes six-year-old Charlotte to feel sad, mad, and scared, she and her dad visit a therapist who helps them acknowledge and express their feelings.
[photo by Matthew Kaplan}
Most of us didn't learn, as children, how to take care of our emotions. Yet this is a crucial part of our learning for life. My books aim to help children (and their parents and caregivers) see that all emotions are important, universal, and can be managed successfully. "When I feel____, I know what to do!"
My children's books also seek to help children who are facing difficult situations such as divorce. It can be comforting to see that one is not alone, and that feelings can be shared. And I try to help children learn that their bodies belong to them, which helps to protect them from sexual abuse.
In December, 2010, my memoir, MISSING, was published, and it, too, is about emotion. My mother (that's her picture, at sixteen, on the cover, and her diary entry) was not helped with her childhood grief. I wish that she, as a child, had had a book that might have helped her. MISSING is about mothers and daughters, and family legacies, and all the ways that people, love, and opportunities for healing are missed--but also about how love and healing do happen.
