I am blessed to receive texts from friends and friends of friends who are looking for information to help the children in their lives. Sometimes the texts are simple, like what’s your favorite sneaker to get for my kid in leg braces. Sometimes the questions are more involved, like how can I help my child as their grandparent is in hospice care. I have a small shelf of books that I like to recommend, and when Grandpa’s Window by Laura Gehl arrived on my doorstep from the publisher, I eagerly snapped it up and settled in to read it. It is a lovely resource to share with children as they experience the loss of a loved one.

Grandpa’s Window is a book that gently unfolds. We meet Daria who is helping to take care of her grandfather. We learn how they have spent time on the beach together throughout Daria’s childhood, and hear as Daria plans for them to fly kites, look for rainbows, and build sandcastles together again. As the book progresses, we see how Grandpa becomes weaker and how it affects Daria and her parents. There are several wordless pages of beautiful, soft, but raw emotional reactions by Daria and her parents to the passing of Grandpa. Time and space is given for mourning and gentle words return to the pages to help describe how Daria and her parents ease back into life. Grandpa is not forgotten and is included in the family’s life through meaningful remembrances. 

In a world that will often tell children to smile, not to cry, and not to be sad, it is refreshing to have a book that allows children and adults to feel their emotions. The author and illustrator together take great care to show the range of feelings and different ways this family travels through their grief. We meet the family at the hospital, through various stages of the grandfather’s illness (which is portrayed gently but authentically), as they learn of the grandfather’s passing, traveling though the funeral, and even bringing the grandfather’s personal items home. Children will be able to see themselves in the story, identify with the emotions, and recognize the different stages of the loss. This will be a valuable addition to my resource shelf for those experiencing loss. It’s not just for children; it can help adults process how they can travel through grief and they help their children do the same. Additionally, this book has come in handy for me to use with my adult sister with Down Syndrome. She has had many questions lately about losses of friends and family members and this book has been a gentle way of remaining in conversation about these concerns. Do you need a copy? Yes, yes you do.