Walking Grandma Home

Nancy Bo Flood

Ellen Shi

Zonderkidz, 2023

32pp., hbk., RRP $A24.99

9780310771241

When Grandma tells Lee she will soon be “going home,” Lee is confused. Isn’t Grandma already home But as Grandma’s health gets worse and her death approaches, Lee learns what it means to “walk Grandma home” to heaven, while also reflecting on his good memories and dealing with his grief alongside his extended family. 

Written by a child psychologist and counsellor this is a touching and relatable story about a young boy’s grief to help young children  understand what it means to lose a loved one and how to process their own emotions of fear, grief, and joyful remembrance.  It includes a page that explains the child’s perspective to help parents and caregivers to process the child’s emotions in a healthy and loving way and personalise the story to the child’s own experience.  

Sadly, this is a situation that many of our young ones face -just this week there was a request for suggestions for titles for a child who was angry that her grandfather was in a wheelchair and succumbing to dementia when her friends’ grandparents weren’t – and thus any books like this that can be added to our collections to help ease and explain the situation have to be welcome. And while each incidence is unique and can be overwhelming for the child involved, perhaps being able to read such stories and have their experience and emotions validated will help a little.