A Terrible Thing Happened - A story for children who have witnessed violence or trauma [Paperback]

Margaret M. Holmes (Author), Sasha J. Mudlaff (Author), Cary Pillo (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up

Sherman Smith saw the most terrible thing happen. At first he tried to forget about it, but soon something inside him started to bother him. He felt nervous for no reason. Sometimes his stomach hurt. He had bad dreams. And he started to feel angry and do mean things, which got hi m in trouble. Then he met Ms. Maple, who helped him talk about the ter rible thing that he had tried to forget. Now Sherman is feeling much b etter. This gently told and tenderly illustrated story is for childre n who have witnessed any kind of violent or traumatic episode, includi ng physical abuse, school or gang violence, accidents, homicide, suici de, and natural disasters such as floods or fire. An afterword by Sash a J. Mudlaff written for parents and other caregivers offers extensive suggestions for helping traumatized children, including a list of oth er sources that focus on specific events.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 1 pages
• Publisher: Magination Pr; 1 edition (February 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1557987017
• ISBN-13: 978-1557987013
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,425 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Social Skills
  • #47 in Books > Children's Books > Social Situations > Emotions & Feelings

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

76 of 76 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Perfect Help for Understanding Trauma, July 13, 2001

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Terrible Thing Happened - A story for children who have witnessed violence or trauma (Paperback)

This book is absolutely perfect for helping children who have experienced trauma understand their feelings, consciously and subconsciously. The story is straight forward about how sometimes we try to hide from the scary feelings created by trauma and how we may act out because of our trying to suppress those feelings. It also gives children an entre' into how to handle these feelings while not telling them that everything will go back to the way it was. Spectacular! Probably the best child's self-help book I've read in a long time.

60 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for Teachers and Parents to Use, December 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: A Terrible Thing Happened - A story for children who have witnessed violence or trauma (Hardcover)

This is a wonderful book for teachers or parents to use with younger children. It uses a fun character to show different emotions that children have after witnessing or being a part of something that is tramatic to them. This could be their parents fighting, divorce, abuse, etc. That is what is so wonderful about this book; it does not tell what the character witnessed. As a result of this, it can apply to a number of situations. This book also helps children to realize that it helps to talk about what is bothering them. This is a must read!

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, highly recommended!, January 16, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: A Terrible Thing Happened - A story for children who have witnessed violence or trauma (Hardcover)

I just can't get over how wonderful this book is. It's perfectly stated so that the child reading it or being read to can understand that there are others out there that feel the same way. The information in the back of the book to parents and caregivers is superb. I'm going to purchase a copy for a few of my friends, and for my sons school. Our family and community has had two serious tragedies in three months, and this book helped my son immensely, having lost his older brother a few months ago. This book is wonderful and simply stated.