Thinking of Mom: A Children's Picture Book about Coping with Loss

by M.O. Lufkin, Nina Khalova (Illustrator), Jody Mullen (Editor)

Mom takes care of Ella every day. She helps her brush her teeth and get dressed, and takes her outside to play. But when Mom is overcome with illness, Ella is left feeling sad, angry, and helpless. She doesn't know how to deal with those emotions, but Dad helps her to call on the good memories of Mom to find happiness again. Children coping with loss and the grown-ups who love them will find comfort in this engaging and empathetic story. It's a great resource for parents and caregivers, teachers, therapists and social workers helping young people to understand grief over the death of a loved one. Page after page of beautiful watercolor pictures make the story feel real and relatable.

38 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2017

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thinking of Mom is a picture book by M.O. Lufkin, and illustrated by Nina Khalova. It looks into the life of Ella, who has just lost her mother. And we take a view at some of the emotions she is experiencing. Her father tries to help guide her through the loss, and tries to encourage happiness. At the end of the book, there’s even some discussion questions.

It’s a beautiful book, I’ll start by saying. While there is definitely sadness to it, I think the story is told well. The phrasing is done well, and the rhyming has a good feel to it, in my opinion. It feels so heartbreaking to see Ella trying to live life without her mother, and clearly missing her. It even brought a few tears to my eyes, I’ll admit. It’s interesting to see the touches of emotions from her father as well, and I think this might encourage a bit of compassion; to make readers think something like “maybe other people miss (the person in question) like I do…” And I certainly feel like this book can encourage discussion between people; such as what they miss about the person, how they’re feeling, etc. I think this book is definitely a good starting point.

The illustrations are an incredible part of the book, and the Khalova has done such great work with the characters and scenery in the book. In a variety of scenes, there are some incredibly detailed portions of illustration, and I love the little touches of personalisation the illustrator has added to the home of the characters and scenery in their lives. The characters have been drawn well; there is really good work on the expressions and posing of them.

Overall, I think it’s a great book. There were definitely some tearful moments for me. It’s such an emotion journey, and I feel like a lot of people will be able to relate to Ella and her loss. The story and illustrations work so well together. The book is absolutely perfect!