Let's Talk About When a Parent Dies

by Elizabeth Weitzman

Provides advice on surviving the death of a parent and suggests what feelings and behavior to expect from others

24 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Jim Landers · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have seen this book described as directed to “K – 2” and “Ages 9 – 12”. The “K-2” is definitely the correct assessment and even that overstates the age relevance. Part of a series on “Let’s Talk About ….. Being Afraid, Your Parents’ Divorce, Foster Homes, etc.”, it is really a very basic presentation of grief, guilt, anger, fear, acceptance.

I saw another review that described it as “outdated and painful to read”. This series is intended for adults to read with very young children. I certainly agree that some children would find this book simplistic by the time they started kindergarten but not all five and six year olds have the same reading and conceptual skills. There may be better tools available but I think this book could be helpful for some adults who have to face a very challenging conversation.

I believe it's out of print but I suspect many/most libraries will have a copy.

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Outdated and painful to read. Seems to achieve it's goal to be a vocabulary book (complete with phonetic pronunciation: "kon-TROLL", "GREEF", etc.) while completely failing to offer comfort or sympathy for a child grieving the loss of a parent. Also awkwardly written, with sections referring to a dad's death and in the next to a mom's death without the proper pacing or transition. Seems aimed at ages 5-8