I have been trying to find the words for this review for weeks
This book means the world to me
As a bereaved mother
And as a young teenager who lost her grandad at a vulnerable age
Grief is an incredibly difficult thing to live with
Grief is incredibly personal
No two people grieve the same
My husband and I discovered this when our daughter died suddenly
At 9 months old
David wanted to sleep all the time
And I needed to talk, to write, to not feel alone
My Matilda Mae
Over time our grief has changed in different ways
For me grief makes me incredibly anxious and angry
Because my daughter’s death makes no sense to me
And I cannot make my peace with losing my baby girl
Living with loss and grief is something I read about a lot
It is something that I write about a lot
It is something that needs to be talked about more
So that people can better understand one another when they are grieving
Storm in a Jar is the story of Arlo
A little boy who adores his Nana
And is heartbroken when she dies
Arlo keeps his Nana’s sweet jar
To remember her by
Arlo keeps the jar with him all the time
It makes him feel safe during sad times
He knows that safe inside the jar
Is the scent of sweets
The smell of Nana
As the weeks pass
Arlo’s sadness turns to anger
He struggles at home and at school
He cannot sleep
His anger builds and builds
And he has a vivid dream
A scary, stormy dream
Arlo confides in his Mum
And she helps him to understand
And begin to process his feelings
“Everything we keep bottled up inside
Always finds a way of coming out.”
The story ends with Arlo finding peace
With the love and support of his family
He is able to talk and work through his emotions
And together with his family
He finds a beautiful and positive way to honour and remember his Nana
The beauty of this book is in the writing
The power of this book to stop you in your tracks
And simultaneously break and heal your heart
Comes from the illustrations
As Arlo’s emotions build inside him
We see the storm build inside Nana’s jar
It is a wonderful way to get children talking about their feelings
Comparing growing anger with a building storm
Illustrating emotional outbursts as storm clouds, lightning and wild waves
This book is breathtaking in its ability to paint a picture of raw emotion
Of how grief can ebb and flow
It will help so many children to describe and process their own feelings
It will help families to talk about losing someone special
It will enable children to begin to understand how others might be feeling
I know that this incredible book has helped my children to begin to understand me better
And that is huge for us as a family
I know that other families are going to find this book valuable too
It is a key
It is a mirror
A window
It is going to help children of all ages
Adults too
To talk about bereavement
To process the grief that comes with loss
To explain to others feelings they cannot put into words
It is going to reassure so many people that it is okay to not be okay
It is going to remind us all to talk and share
It is a warning to us all not to bottle up our emotions
It is going to give a lifeline to so many people who are feeling lost and alone
It will give us all more patience and understanding
I think this is such an important story
Beautifully written by Samuel Langley – Swain
Stunningly illustrated by Katie Cottle
One for every home, library and classroom
Because death is something that will affect us all
And we need to be able to talk about it
It matters
It really really does
We were sent a copy of the book in exchange for our honest review