Water Bugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Children

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Summary: Water Bugs and Dragonflies
Review: I ordered this book to help my grandson deal with the death of his great grandmother. It was very helpful. I recommend it highly.

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Summary: A beautiful, joyful metaphor for a child to understand death
Review: We looked at book after book to help our six year old son process and understand the death of his dear six year old friend. He was scared and angry and sad. Many of the books we read dealt with those feelings, and that was helpful. This book, however, dealt more with the unknown aspect of death and used a metaphor that was uplifting and simple. The one way transition of a water bug (those of us living) to a dragonfly (those who have passed on) is tangible to a young child and the light airy world of the dragonfly is not frightening. Our family is Jewish, but we first read this book when we borrowed it from a Christian library. The last page of the book is a prayer which could easily be omitted by a non-religious family. The book would not lose it's relevance by omitting the prayer.