Saying Goodbye to Lulu

by Corinne Demas, Ard Hoyt (Illustrator)

A young girl and her lovable dog, Lulu, are the best of friends. They play games together, explore their neighborhood, and even cuddle up to read bedtime stories each night. Lulu is the best dog a girl could ever hope for, but when she grows older and gradually becomes weak, the little girl must face the sad possibility of losing her dear friend, and inevitably, cope with the death of her canine companion. Though she is deeply saddened by Lulu's passing and misses her very much, over time the little girl discovers that the sweet memory of her beloved Lulu will live on forever... in her heart.

With realistic, hopeful illustrations by Ard Hoyt, this tender tale offers an accessible lens to young children learning to understand and cope with the mixed emotions that come with the loss of a loved one.

Genres: Picture Books, Death, Animals, Grief, Pets, Dogs, Family

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Corinne Demas is the award-winning author of thirty-nine books, including six novels (Daughters, The Road Towards Home, The Writing Circle), two short story collections, a memoir (Eleven Stories High, Growing Up in Stuyvesant Town, 1948--1968), a poetry chapbook, and numerous books for children (The Littlest Matryoshka, Saying Goodbye to Lulu, The Disappearing Island, The Perfect Tree). She is a Professor Emerita of English at Mount Holyoke College and a Fiction Editor of The Massachusetts Review. Along with her family, two donkeys, and a precocious puppy, she divides her time between Western Massachusetts and Cape Cod, two settings that have inspired her books.

Reviews

[Peacegal]

Sweet, gentle story of a little girl, her aging dog Lulu, and the process of saying goodbye to a loved one. This book will touch the hearts of anyone who has lost a pet, child or adult. Sensitive handling of a difficult topic.

[June]

A young, girl's dog dies. Introduces old and sick need care just like newborns. Being afraid to see the dead. Burial, planting a memorial and finally being able to say goodbye. The ability to love a previous pet and to love a new one.

[Anna]

Lulu is an aging dog. This is a young girl's story of grief and acceptance after Lulu crosses the rainbow bridge and her recounting adventures and life with Lulu as a young puppy.

Saying Goodbye To Lulu is a must-read for families with aging dogs to help young children deal with death. Not going to lie, reading this book out loud brought me to tears.

[Randie D. Camp, M.S.]

A young girl's dog, Lulu, is sick and dies. She tries to say goodbye but finds that she can only cry. Her parents are supportive and they plant a tree in their yard where Lulu is buried so they can still think of her.

The illustrations capture the change in Lulu and the colors are soft and comforting. I most appreciated the Author's Note at the end. Demas shares that it is hard to talk about death with children and she hopes this book can be used to open up that discussion. She also shares that one way to cope with the loss of a pet is to share your story with others.

[Amanda Hughes]

Death is a hard topic to discuss with children. Demas writes this touching story in a way that makes it a little might make it a little easier. The colors are soft and the tone is comforting. Great story to share with children who have experienced loss

[Elizabeth]

Brought tears to my eyes. Thus is a story that anyone with a per can relate to. We all know our pets will get older but nobody likes to thinly if what it would be like without them.

[Alyssa Ricard]

This is now one of my new favorites. This was such a tearjerker... I felt so much emotion threw the young girl. It feels as if you were saying goodbye to Lulu too.

[Samantha]

I prefer Sammy in the Sky, but this is also a good picture book about dealing with the death of a dog.

[Jenn]

Very sweet book about saying goodbye to an animal- I do wish they had featured the family adopting a new dog instead of getting a puppy.

[Mikayla Parker]

This story is about a little girl who must say bye to her best friend, Lulu. Lulu was a puppy when the little girl was born and they grew up doing everything together. Lulu grew old and it was time for her to go. The little girl came home from school one day and Lulu was gone… The little girl must then figure out how to say goodbye to her sweet dog. This story follows the little girl through the grieving process. After several months, the little girl is finally able to say goodbye to Lulu. She gets new puppy but she will never forget her precious Lulu.

I absolutely sobbed reading this book. I started bawling after reading the first page and I STILL cannot stop. I knew it would be a hard one to get through and sure enough it took forever to read. This story is raw and does not sugarcoat anything. It’s very real and if you’ve lost a dog that you were very close to, then you will be able to connect with this book on a deep level. You see the shortened version of real grieving for the loss of a dog. It takes a long time before you can really say goodbye and move on. But the author shows us that even though you say goodbye, you won’t ever forget your best friend and you will still love them. I was flooded with emotions while reading this. I have very mixed feelings about this book. It was so beautifully done and I felt a connection to Lulu and the little girl. But this book is heartbreaking. I don’t see how any child could read this and not cry. I have lost five dogs in my lifetime and it’s about to be my sixth. I related to the little girl in this book because I can remember each of my dogs getting so old and watching them fade away. I hated saying goodbye to my dogs and three of them I didn’t even get to say goodbye to before they went. Now I am in college away from home and my best girl is 15 years old and really slowing down. “Saying Goodbye to Lulu” struck me HARD. I can’t help but love this book but I will only read it if I am alone and ready to cry.

I can’t decide if I will add this book to my classroom bookshelf yet because I don’t know if it will upset my students. I won’t read it to the class for two reasons: One being that I probably won’t make it through without crying. The other reason being that I don’t want half of my class to be upset and crying. This is a precious book.

[MJ]

I grabbed this book after my dog died last week after an illness, because I have a 3 year old grandson who was asking about her. His mom told him she (my dog) was in heaven but that's tough concept for a child that age, and he asked me when she'd be back home again. He knew she'd been sick and seemed to think that heaven was like a hospital for dogs.

I thought this book handled it well, and showed kids that, while they may be sad and cry, they can love and miss a pet even after they're gone. It helped me, too.

[Rhianna]

Oh yeah, because I totally wanted to cry at work today. This is an incredibly touching story about a little girl who's beloved lifelong companion passes away. It deals with loss in a realistic yet gentle way, affirming the angry and sadness a child deals with when trying to cope. The little girl does get a new puppy, and she knows "she isn't Lulu, but I still love you". Yeah, definitely not ugly crying here.

[Liesl]

Probably not the best book to read at work, but I saw it on a coworker's desk so couldn't resist. So I sat down and cried more and more as the story progressed. Lovely portrayal of the last days of a senior dog and that feeling of not wanting another dog, just wanting your dog to be healthy again. Not until some time passes is your heart ready again. And they may not be Lula or Bela, but you love them too.

[Aj Fried]

We got this book as we are helping our son deal with the loss of his grandparents dog. It was a pretty good book about the process of losing a dog. The only piece I didn't love was the replacing of the dog at the end with a puppy, it was clear it tried not to do this...but it definitely was the first question our kid asked as the book ended. Was when are they getting a new dog? But the experience was well and definitely made me tear up.

[Kristen McBee]

This is the one I’ve been looking for! I knew I’d know it when I read it. (Too bad it was the very bottom one in a stack of books about dead dogs). Anyway, this one is sweet, but still appropriately sad, and has nothing about dog heaven. I don’t love that she gets a new puppy at the end, but I do love that she makes it clear she is not replacing Lulu but adding to her list of beloveds.

[Rachel]

Realistic fiction
K-2Nd grade
This would be a good book therapy story as the main character loses her dog Lulu. The story talks about the memories the little girl has made with her best friend. She’s sad to lose Lulu but learns to cope with the grief, and I think that would help connect to students who have recently lost a pet.

[Lynn Davidson]

I love the gorgeous illustrations for this beautiful story. Lulu was the much loved dog of a little girl, but Lulu was getting old and unable to do much anymore. This story - told in a gentle, sweet way - is about the loss of a loved pet and how the girl made her way through grief. The illustrations are so expressive and lovely; especially note the inside of front and back covers.

[Lara]

Another ugly cry in the picture book section*. Saying goodbye to a faithful old friend and learning to make space for a new one. Not a picture book read, obviously, but one to have in the collection for those who need it. Sensitive, gentle handling of a very emotional topic.


*Does NOT help that my own furry companion is quite old himself.

[Nadina]

This was beautiful. If you are looking for a book about your pet passing away, this is one of the ones you must read. I loved the illustrations, I loved the text, I loved the pace.

It was wonderful that even though the parents were ready to get a new dog for the kid once Lulu had passed, she did not want one right away

[Mary Kate]

This book was depressing, especially considering that I know and love a dog named Lulu! However, the illustrations were well done, and the text was written in a way that young children will be able to understand and benefit from it, particularly if they’re going through a similar situation.

[Cleyton]

I dont even know why I read this book. I knew from the beginning I couldn't handle reading this book but I did it anyways. This is a very touching story about a girl who struggles with losing her childhood dog. As someone who has done this before I felt very sad reading this book.

[Runell]

I did not read this to my son. I just happened to pick it up and read it while at the library picking out some new books to read to him, and it proceeded to make me tear up.

Very careful handling of a sensitive topic.

[Rosie]

This book left me sobbing when I read it out of curiosity while sorting the children's section of my library. If you've ever had a pet you've loved with all your heart, approach this book with caution.

[时间的玫瑰]

如果以后要生小孩，我也要养一只小小狗。

[Lindsay]

Hands down the best death-of-a-pet book I've read yet.

[Debi]

Good message for children with aging pets.

[Celina]

Completely amazing. So direct and clear fearless. Was sooooo useful for my seven year old daughter for working through our 13 year old dog’s impending death.

[SL]

Very well done. I related on a personal level because I also lost my beloved dog.

[Haaley]

This book was very hard. I could hardly read it because I was crying.
But it is a touching story of a very real event.

[Portia]

Beautiful and heartbreaking. Made me cry thinking of my own dog.