Waterbugs and Dragonflies

We recently had to explain to our children the death of our 12-year-old black lab. My wife and I struggled to find the right way to tell a 4-year-old and 2-year-old and as we discussed options, nothing really sounded simple. That is, until a box arrived on our doorstep several days later and inside was a thin and simple book, "Waterbugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children" by Doris Stickney. My wife had ordered this, along with several others, but this book's simple words and illustrations were able to explain death in a way that young children could understand. I was reminded of this last night as I gave my kids a bath we discussed the contents of the book and about what happened to our dog and friend and wanted to share this. If you are looking for a way to explain death to young children, Doris Stickney did an excellent job and I would recommend you check it out and see if the simple words can help you explain a difficult and scary fact of life to a small child.