Ben’s Flying Flowers - Hardcover

Maier PhD, Dr. Inger

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1433811332 ISBN 13: 9781433811333

Publisher: Magination Press, 2012

Synopsis

Foreword Book of the Year Finalist

Nautilus Award for Children's Picture Book (Silver)

"I'm never drawing happy pictures again." Day after day Emily draws pictures of dark clouds with rain, and houses with tiny windows and doors. She misses Ben so much.

When Emily loses her brother after a long illness, she feels alone, angry, and very, very sad. With the understanding and support of her parents, Emily learns that it helps when she snuggles with her parents. It helps when she talks about her feelings and asks questions about Ben. And it helps when she does regular kid stuff, too. 

The death of a child is an extremely tragic and difficult experience for a family. Parents trying to manage their own grief must also provide support and guidance to the surviving children in the family. And, when a child dies, siblings may temporarily “lose” their grieving parents. Children may try to take care of their parents or attempt to show unusually good behavior. Or often, children worry about asking questions or expressing emotion, thinking that would make their parents too sad.

Ben’s Flying Flowers beautifully characterizes a child’s common emotional reactions when a sibling dies and pays specific attention to the child’s experience by way of explanation, imagery, and healing messages. In the story, Emily learns that expressing her feelings and asking questions about Ben’s death can be helpful, as can doing normal every day activities. Emily learns that remembering happier times with Ben soothes sad feelings and provides much comfort to her and her parents.

"Flying flowers, flying flowers, white, yellow, or blue. When I see one, I'll remember the special times I had with you."

A Note to Parents describes the psychological issues that children confront when a sibling dies, and offers practical strategies and guidance to parents for navigating the child and their family through the grieving process.
 

About this title

Book Description

When Emily loses her brother after a long illness, she feels alone, angry, and very, very sad. With the understanding and support of her parents, Emily learns that it helps when she snuggles with her parents. It helps when she talks about her feelings and asks questions about Ben. And it helps when she does regular kid stuff, too. But mostly, she learns that remembering Ben and their happy life together builds healthy and helpful images that soothe her sad feelings and provide much comfort to her and her family. A Note to Parents describes the psychological issues that children confront when a sibling dies, and offers practical strategies and guidance to parents for navigating the child and their family through the grieving process.

About the Author

Inger Maier, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and author of Ben's Flying Flowers, When Fuzzy Was Afraid of Losing His Mother, When Fuzzy Was Afraid of Big and Loud Things, and When Lizzy Was Afraid of Trying New Things.

Maria Bogade is an illustrator who creates her own unique environments and appealing characters to entertain children and adults alike. She also illustrated the Magination Press book Ben's Flying Flowers. She lives with her family in a tiny town in Germany.. Visit her at www.mariabogade.com and follow her on Facebook: @MariaBogadeIllustration and Instagram: @MariaBogadeIllustration.

About this edition

• Publisher: Magination Press
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 1433811332
• ISBN 13: 9781433811333
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Bogade Maria