Creating Deeper Critter Connections

How do you comfort a child grieving the loss of their pet best friend?

When a family’s dog is hit by a car, an empathic neighbor listens and mentors as one of the youngsters struggles to make sense of the pet’s tragic death.

Together the neighbors share stories of furry best friends and explore possibilities for transforming sorrow, dealing with blame, deflecting careless remarks, and keeping a pet’s memory alive. They consider how:

• Creating alternate stories can shift feelings and soften grief’s edges.
• Remembering the ‘spark’ in all living things offers the possibility of reconnecting.
• Honoring a pet’s memory can lead to acceptance and closure.
• Harnessing the power of imagination can bring about healing.

But neither neighbor imagines the surprising end to their exploration of pet loss or the possibilities that lie ahead.

This gentle tale is written in dialogue, like a play, and only the dogs have names. When Winnie Went Away invites readers to imagine themselves as the caring elder or the child as they follow the pair’s journey through pet loss. A dozen fanciful illustrations support this hopeful story’s invitation to imagine.

An ideal guidebook for families to read together, When Winnie Went Away offers consolation to anyone—kids, teens, even grownups—who loses a deeply loved animal companion.