My Buddy & Me - Normalising Grief & Loss and Learning Resilience

Book Reviews:

In 'My Buddy and Me', Jane uses her 20 years of counselling expertise to explore how children can navigate loss, loneliness and sadness. Using the depiction of a tree, its natural cycle of loss and regrowth is explored. Children can learn about resilience through practical activity suggestions that build on hope, connection and imagination. This book reminds me of my own solitary childhood growing up on a farm in country NSW. Cloud-watching was a favourite childhood pastime of mine, particularly during times of loneliness and navigating sadness. I was pleased to see it feature in this book. Young readers will easily connect with the key messages found in 'My Buddy and Me'. 

 

Kim B. Wagga Wagga, NSW, Australia
Counsellor
 

"My Buddy and Me: Normalising Loss and Grief and Learning Resilience is a thoughtfully designed therapeutic tool disguised as a picture book. Through accessible nature metaphors, it normalises grief, offers practical coping strategies, and gives children an imaginative companion to help them through difficult times. For counsellors, teachers, and parents navigating conversations about loss with young children, it's a valuable resource.

What makes this book original isn't its storytelling but its approach. As bibliotherapy, it feels fresh; as narrative literature, it reads more like an instructional manual than a traditional story. But the book knows exactly what it is—a therapeutic resource—and it does that job well. When judged by its true purpose—building resilience and normalising grief—rather than by traditional literary standards, it succeeds admirably."

Mark
Launceston
Lecturer U Tas
 

My Buddy and Me, Children's Grief and Loss is a wonderful little book. It has fantastic pictures that will resonate with the target audience. I loved the way the book was structured with questions peppered through the book to invite discussion. The structure of the book teaches the process of identifying emotions, normalizing them and then it gives you a variety of age appropriate coping strategies to try. It would be perfect to use either in the home environment or a clinical setting. I can't wait to start using it in my role as a Child and Family Counsellor!

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Fiona
Child and Family Counsellor