The Saddest Time (An Albert Whitman Prairie Book) [Paperback]

Norma Simon (Author), Jacqueline Rogers (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 1986 | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: An Albert Whitman Prairie Book

Norma Simon offers three stories to help children talk about death--an uncle with a terminal illness, a classmate killed in an accident, and a grandparent.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Illness, accident, and old age provide three different scenarios in which children experience powerful emotions when someone close has died.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"The sensitivity of the writing is mirrored by the understated, realistic pencil drawings."

Booklist

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Product Details

• Paperback: 40 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (January 1, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807572047
• ISBN-13: 978-0807572047
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 7.7 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #145,315 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Saddest Time, July 10, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Saddest Time (A Concept Book) (Hardcover)

The Saddest Time is a great resource to use with children that are dealing with both the potential and eventual loss of someone they care about. There are three short stories in this book. The first one deals with the loss of what appears to be a middle aged uncle, the second the unexpected and accidental death of a young child, and the third the dying and death of an older person, in this case the grandmother. The first story includes the anticipatory grief phase that the child experiences. Trying to make conversation with someone who is terminally ill. It addresses the fear associated with the possibility of losing parents. It also addresses the grief after the death, and attempts to help and comfort the family. The second story is about an accidental death of a classmate. The children in the classroom are given the opportunity to remember and discuss their feelings. They are also encouraged to send the family cards and letters, writing about special times they shared with their friend that died. The third story is about a child's grandmother who is dying and actually dies when the family is present. It discusses the feelings of sadness and anger that the child feels. It further discusses in simple terms, the funeral and the support provided to the grandfather. It also encourages the child to reminisce. Overall, this book really encorporates death as a normal part of life. The emotions experienced because of death are normalized and expected. It addresses feeling experienced. Discusses feelings and common funeral rituals as well as the support that is shared with friends and families after a loss. People, including children experience grief in their own way. This is an excellent book,as it encorporates anticipatory grief as well as the grief experienced after the death of a loved one. It also addresses three different experiences that are common in life. I feel it could help adults and children alike. This book would be great a great resource for the community and should be included in school system, public libraries. We are including this in our hospice library for our community to use.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sensitive exploration of a child's saddness and grief, June 16, 2001

By 

Carol Watkins "Psychiatrist" (Parkton, Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Saddest Time (An Albert Whitman Prairie Book) (Paperback)

This book tells three separate stories about children's experiences with death. The first tells how a boy deals with the death of his uncle. The second, how students deal with the sudden death of a classmate. The third tells of a girl who is at the bedside with her family when her grandmother dies. Each one deals with the sad feelings surrounding death, but also celebrates the life of the deceased individual. Each story ends with how the children cope and come to terms with loss. Before and after each story are poems that connect death with the celebration of life. These explain that endings and beginnings are all connected. I was particularly impressed with the sensitive way that the author deals with a child's sadness and gently shows ways of coping. She notes that the sadness may never completely go away, but that eventually it is outweighed by understanding and new forms of mastery.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars cathartic for kids and adults, November 9, 2003

By 

Corin Goodwin (GiftedHomeschoolers.org) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Saddest Time (An Albert Whitman Prairie Book) (Paperback)

This is a really useful book for children and the adults who share their lives with them. We have lost a number of relatives over the past few years, and of all the books out there on death, this is the one that my kids keep going back to. Appropriate for most ages, it covers several of the ways that children can experience loss (death of a relative or friend; result of an accident or illness; deceased as a young person or an old person), giving this book something for everyone (such as it is). It is very accessible, and for parents who are reading it aloud to younnger children or using it as a segue to discussion with an older child, it isn't annoying after you have read it over and over and over.

I highly recommend this book for any child dealing with the death of a loved one or just death as a concept.