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Books are known to provide us with many things, we travel through them, we laugh with them, we cry with them, but I think the most important thing books give us is knowledge, and not only of the mind, but of the heart.
No matter the age books teach us life lessons, and they are especially useful when it comes to small children who benefit from listening and visuals combined. Books can explain difficult situations through someone’s story making it easier to understand without having to experience it themselves.
“Theo’s heart” is a book that brings a difficult and very sensitive subject into it’s story: Grief. And it does it in a very sweet and kind way. Grief is something most parents, including myself, don’t talk about with our children until we experience it. Which I thought was ok… you know, no need to bring up a sad subject if it's not happening. But then I read “Theo’s Heart”.
Amy’s story teaches children to be empathetic with those who are experiencing grief by the loss of someone they love. Shows children how the feeling of empathy can be complemented with acts of kindness towards that person, also Tracy Liu’s illustrations flow the feelings the book’s story gives you in a very peaceful way. Her illustrations are soft light colors without crowding too many images.
I personally learned a big lesson from this story. I know grief is a difficult subject to talk about with our children, but we, as parents, need to make an effort. I realized that my daughter could be around someone who lost a loved one, and I want her to be empathetic and kind towards that other child. I realized how important it is that other parents should talk about death and grief to their children, because we really don’t know if one day, our children will need that support from their friends too.
I highly recommend school counselors to have this book as a resource. It will help prepare classmates of someone who is experiencing grief to be kind to them during this difficult moment.
The book was independently published by the author. For more information about “Theo’s Heart” book, go to https://kaleidokidsbooks.square.site/. This is a formal book review and the opinions expressed are purely my own.