What Children Need When They Grieve : The Four Essentials: Routine, Love, Honesty, and Security

Rating:
Summary: One woman's moving account and practical wisdom
Review: This reader found the book a wise and moving account of one woman's response to her husband's death on 9/11, and the heart-wrenching choices she was forced to make regarding her children's emotional recovery. Ms. Rathkey presents her story in such an honest, conversational, but still sensitive manner, that the reader is left feeling that they've traveled her journey alongside her. But what makes the book exceptional is the way Ms. Rathkey so effectively combines the journal-like aspect with practical advice on how to shepherd children through grief. Just as you are engrossed and touched by such details as Julia's physical reactions to loss (in the wonderful chapters on "Honesty" and "Emotional Support") and her thought processes as she struggled over whether to send her children to a support summer camp, Ms. Rathkey steers the reader toward advice that's given in direct, bullet-point lists (the material on how individuals and the community can best deal with a grieving family is very precise and refreshingly honest). Though I've never experienced loss as the author has, I feel better armed to handle any experience of bereavment and recovery, as an individual and as a parent. A gem of a book, and a great resource for any home library.