Goodreads asked Rebecca Laffar-Smith:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Rebecca Laffar-Smith It's hard to define "most recent" so I'm going to talk about the one that's recently finished, written, and ready to be published.

"One Last Goodbye" is what I fondly refer to as my "funeral book". It's the story of a young boy discovering the many and varied "why" of funeral traditions from cultures around the world in a very short, simple, sweet, picture book.

The story came to me when my then 11 year old son who is Autistic, couldn't understand why we needed to attend my grandmother's funeral. We had all been very close to Grandy and the funeral was an important way for our family to acknowledge her death, but being very literal and pragmatic, my son didn't understand what it was about and why it was necessary. "One Last Goodbye" was my answer to him, and to all children who are often facing the first funeral they attend at around the same age. It shows children that these traditions are important and are celebrated all around the world in many ways, for many reasons, but in all traditions, a funeral is a chance to say "One Last Goodbye" to a treasured loved one now lost.

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