Customer Reviews

Guiding Your Child Through Grief

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...when I lost my wife. I looked for two hours in the bookstore before I found this, and I found a lot of books that sandwiched children's grief reactions to death with grief reactions to divorce, moving, etc. I was looking for something specific, not being sure how to help my daughter when I felt I was being crushed under my own grief. I read the first few pages, where Jim Emswiler describes the death of his first wife, and I knew I had found what I was looking for. This book never did disappoint.

If you need it, this is, in my opinion, THE book for families with grieving children.

The much anticipated book about child/adolescent grief by the Emswilers deserves a place in the library of anyone who works with young children and teens. Experiencing the deep loss of a loved one is a frightening, confusing experience for children and parents. Sharing their years of personal insights and anecdotes in dealing with grieving youth, this book proceeds beyond the basics of childhood grief and explains how grief affects the family, how to communicate with grieving children, creating and using "holding communities", and rituals that might help. They take us through the minefield of adolescent grief and provide critical information that will help you help your teens deal with grief. They reassure us to "be patient and don't worry, they do come back." This easy-to-read, down-to-earth, sometimes humorous book also delves into dealing with issues that are oftentimes not addressed, such as complicated mourning, caring for care givers, step parenting a grieving child, and tips for teachers and health professionals. There is also a questions and answer section and an excellent bibliography for further readings. This is an important reference I'm sure care givers will access for help throughout the childhood years.

This is an excellent book for parents of children dealing with all phases of loss. They explain how children of different ages perceive death in different ways.

The authors go beyond the basics. They give specific advice on how to talk to children about different types of death including cancer, suicide and murder. They discuss different ways to rebuild after the loss. I particularly liked the section on stepparenting the grieving child.

The Emswilers balance illuminating vignettes with theory and advice. The chapters are organized so that one can pick and choose, based on one's particular needs.

this book is terrific,I bought it so that i could help my 4 children deal with the death of my husband and their grandmother within 3 months of each other plus 2 young friends at the same time .Not only has it helped me help them ,but it has helped me the mother even more. I thought I was losing my mine for a while,4 special needs children who we had adopted already had great grief.I had ordered many books looking for help but this one is so great I can't put it down and now I am going to order it for some other people who share the same difficult days.I highly recommened this book to any one who has lost a love one,child or adult,you will not be sorry.

I just finished this book and I am reading it again - a thoughtful, well written book that would be helpful to any family member, friend, or future family member of a grieving child. A wonderful book for a difficult time.

I have 3 children ages 15,8,6. We lost their dad in a car accident 2 months ago. I was desperate for any kind of advice or help. There aren't many people we know that have dealt with this kind of loss. I wanted a Christian based book since our faith is the only thing that comforts us right now. This book is amazing, it is the perfect book for a parent looking for guidance during a time of loss. It has encouraged me when I found there were things I had done right, and stopped me from doing things that may hinder their healing. No one can tell you exactly what to do during times like this, but this book was extremely helpful and encouraging to our family. I think for our experience, it is a must have.
MOM 0f 3

This is THE best book on child grief...I have them all (out of necessity) and cannot recommend this book more highly. I was given this by the director of our Cove group and felt as if I'd been thrown a lifeline...it's been just over five years for us and I give copies of appropriate sections to my children's teachers at the start of every school year. In addition, it continues to be helpful after this many years because of the emphasis on the fact that children "regrieve" as they mature and hit different developmental milestones. It allows me, as my children get older, to anticipate the next phase and prepare...invaluable as a single mother. The Emswilers haven't been wrong yet.