It would be a pity if this interesting, humane, and practical book were read only by parents of recently bereaved children--for two reasons. First, the book is about grief in a broad sense. Its lessons apply not only to the child whose pet, aunt, or parent has died, but also to the child whose parents have divorced, who has suffered a debilitating injury, or who has experienced other forms of traumatic loss. Second, let's face it: every child will suffer a loss at some point, so it behooves parents to be prepared in advance. As the authors say, "our task as parents is to prepare our children to deal with the experiences they will have."

It's unfortunate that the book has what might be considered a common structural flaw in self-help books. All of Part I (about 50 pages) is devoted to examining various myths about grieving and mistakes in dealing with it--for example, that the griever should keep busy and try not to feel bad. This is "good advice about bad advice," but it leaves the reader wondering why the authors didn't choose to get on with the plain old "good advice" on page 1. By Part II, it's already clear which coping techniques the authors will recommend. It would have been better to start there. --Richard Farr


From Publishers Weekly
Coauthors of The Grief Recovery Handbook, John W. James and Russell Friedman join with psychotherapist Leslie Landon Matthews to present When Children Grieve: For Adults to Help Children Deal with Death, Divorce, Pet Loss, Moving, and Other Losses. This compassionate manual addresses the nature of grief, purges common myths the worst of which, the authors claim, is that time heals all wounds (only small, positive actions can heal a person, insist James, Friedman and Matthews) and encourages adults to adopt a more healthy approach to grief themselves, so that they, in turn, can help children. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Book News, Inc.
This handbook will help parents and others model healthy attitudes to grief and loss to show children how to work through a loss. The commonsense suggestions include allowing emotions to be expressed without judgement and telling the truth about the adult's own grief. Personal stories illustrate the use of these techniques and their success. The authors are affiliated with The Grief Recovery Institute and have written other books on grief recovery. They do not have professional credentials in counseling or the helping professions.Copyright © 2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR


Book Description
To watch a child grieve and not know what to do is a profoundly difficult experience for parents, teachers, and caregivers. Yet, there are guidelines for helping children develop a lifelong, healthy response to loss.In When Children Grieve, the authors offer a cutting-edge volume to free children from the false idea of "not feeling bad" and to empower them with positive, effective methods of dealing with loss.There are many life experiences that can produce feelings of grief in a child, from the death of a relative or a divorce in the family to more everyday experiences such as moving to a new neighborhood or losing a prized possession. No matter the reason or degree of severity, if a child you love is grieving, the guidelines examined in this thoughtful book can make a difference.


About the Author
John W. James was born in Danville, Illinois. He was thrust unwillingly into the arena of grief and recovery when his three-day-old son died in 1977. John lives in Los Angeles with his Emmy Award-winning wife, Jess Walton -- the evil "Jill Abbott" on The Young & the Restless -- and spends most of his free time with daughter Allison and son Cole.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

To watch a child grieve and not know what to do is one of the most difficult experiences for parents, teachers, and caregives. And yet, there are guidelines for helping children develop a lifelong, healthy response to loss.

In When Children Grieve, John W. James and Russell Friedman of the Grief Recovery Institute, along with psychotherapist Dr. Leslie Landon Matthews, have created a cutting-edge volume that will help free children from the false idea that they "shouldn't feel bad" and will empower them with positive, effective methods of dealing with loss.

There are many life experiences that can produce feelings of grief in a child, everything from the death of a relative or a divorce, to more everyday experiences such as moving to a new neighborhood or losing a prized possession. Whatever the reason or the degree of severity, if a child you love is grieving, the guidelines examined in this thoughtful book can make a difference.

No matter what the journey involves, seeing hope return to a child makes it all worthwhile. That is the greatest gift you can give to a child you love.

SYNOPSIS

This handbook will help parents and others model healthy attitudes to grief and loss to show children how to work through a loss. The commonsense suggestions include allowing emotions to be expressed without judgement and telling the truth about the adult's own grief. Personal stories illustrate the use of these techniques and their success. The authors are affiliated with The Grief Recovery Institute and have written other books on grief recovery. They do not have professional credentials in counseling or the helping professions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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