When Chloe Hooper’s partner is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive illness, she has to find a way to tell their two young sons. By instinct, she turns to the bookshelf. Can the news be broken as a bedtime tale? Is there a perfect book to prepare children for loss?
Hooper embarks on a quest to find what practical lessons children’s literature - with its’ innocent orphans and evil adults, magic, monsters and anthropomorphic animals - can teach about grief and resilience in real life. From the Brothers Grimm to Frances Hodgson Burnett and Tolkien and Dahl - all of whom suffered childhood bereavements - she follows the breadcrumbs of the world’s favourite authors, searching for the deep wisdom in their books and lives.
