Experiencing loss, whether sudden or expected, is extremely challenging at any age. Since children may not have friends who have had a similar experience, they may find this to be a scary, overwhelming and lonely time. A little turtle loves doing fun things with Grandpa! The turtle loves having Grandpa in the stands cheering loudly during T-ball games. Suddenly the turtle’s world is turned upside down when Grandpa falls ill and goes to the hospital. When the turtle’s parents share that “Grandpa has gone to heaven to live with God”, the turtle must somehow learn to live without him. The turtle misses Grandpa so much. While the little turtle wonders if Grandpa is living in a cloud, family members and friends help lead the turtle through many feelings during the first year following the grandpa’s death. Through this experience, the young turtle learns that it is okay to cry, laugh and be happy, as well as to forever love Grandpa! In this beautifully illustrated and touching tale, a young turtle learns how to deal with loss and grief after the turtle’s grandpa dies. The turtle is left believing Grandpa is watching and sending love from his heavenly cloud. This book provides numerous recommendations for adults supporting the grieving child. These include suggestions for honoring memories, creating tangible remembrances, and working through shared grief in a gentle and supportive way.

Experiencing loss, whether sudden or expected, is extremely challenging at any age. Since children often do not have friends who have had a similar experience, they may find this to be a scary, overwhelming and lonely time. A little turtle loves doing fun things with Daddy, including playing golf together. Suddenly the turtle’s world is turned upside down when Dad falls ill and goes to the hospital. When the turtle’s mother says, “Daddy has gone to heaven to live with God”, the turtle must somehow learn to live without him. The turtle misses Daddy so much. While the little turtle wonders if Dad is living in a cloud, family members and friends help lead the turtle through many feelings during the first year following the dad’s death. Through this experience, the young turtle learns that it is okay to cry, laugh and be happy, as well as to forever love Daddy! In this beautifully illustrated and touching tale, a young turtle learns how to deal with loss and grief after the turtle’s father suddenly dies. The turtle is left believing Dad is watching and sending love from his heavenly cloud. This book provides numerous recommendations for adults supporting the grieving child. These include suggestions for honoring memories, creating tangible remembrances, and working through shared grief in a gentle and supportive way.

Experiencing the loss of a family member, whether sudden or expected, is challenging at any age. For children, this time can be scary, overwhelming and lonely, as they may not know other children who have experienced a similar loss. A little turtle loves doing fun things with Grandma, that include feeding the ducks at the pond. The turtle’s world is turned upside down when Mom and Dad say she has gone to heaven to live with God. The turtle must somehow learn to live without her. The little turtle misses Grandma so much. While the turtle wonders if she is living in a cloud, others help guide the turtle through feelings experienced during the first year following her death. The little turtle learns that it is okay to cry, laugh, be sad and be happy, and to forever love Grandma. In this beautifully illustrated and touching tale, a young turtle learns how to deal with loss and grief after Grandma suddenly dies, leaving the turtle believing she is watching from her heavenly cloud. This book provides numerous recommendations for adults supporting the grieving child. These include suggestions for honoring memories, creating tangible remembrances, and working through shared grief in a gentle and supportive way.

Death is often perceived as an end point. Yet any family who has lost a child, either at birth or at some point in the child’s journey towards adulthood, will acknowledge it is a beginning. The beginning of a life-long grief journey, not just for the parents, but for other family members as well. While tears often come easily, words and actions, many times do not. How does one explain the death of a newborn, or the death of a child in elementary school or even high school, to their brothers and/or sisters? This story invites the grieving child/children, and the adults who love them, through a two-day grief camp experience for children. Three turtles meet at camp. They have each lost a brother. Snappy’s teenage brother Scooter died. Speedy’s newborn brother Bowser died. And Shelly’s young brother Scotty died too. Through the experience of numerous shared camp activities and discussions, the turtles become friends. They learn in the process, that while remembering may make them sad, it can help them to laugh and be happy, too. Speedy learned that even though there wasn’t time to create memories with his newborn brother, he can use his heart and his mind to imagine what life might be like, if his brother had lived. As camp comes to an end, the three friends realize they will always carry their brothers with them, in their heart and in their mind. This book includes many recommendations for techniques to honor and remember their brother. These activities allow the adult(s) and child/children to feel their grief through sharing openly about various grief topics, looking back at memories, and creating tangible remembrances. In time, through the sacred sharing of grief, they will begin to heal together.

Experiencing loss, whether sudden or expected, is extremely challenging at any age. For children, this time is not only scary, but also can be overwhelming and sometimes lonely. A little turtle loves doing fun things with his mommy that include flying a kite. But his world is turned upside down after his mother suddenly falls ill and goes to the hospital one day. When the turtle’s father tells him she has gone to heaven to live with God, the turtle must somehow learn to live without her. The turtle misses his mommy so much. While he wonders if she is living in a cloud, his grandmother and others help lead him through all of his feelings as he moves through the first year following her death and learns that it is okay to cry, laugh and be happy, and forever love his mommy with all his heart. In this beautifully illustrated and touching tale, a young turtle learns how to deal with loss and grief after his mother suddenly dies and leaves him believing she is watching over him from her heavenly cloud. This book provides numerous recommendations for adults supporting the grieving child. These include suggestions for honoring memories, creating tangible remembrances, and working through shared grief in a gentle and supportive way.

The elementary tale of the life cycle of a tree, from its beginnings as a sapling to its demise on the forest floor, where it decomposes and becomes "a home for rabbits, and food for flowers", is also a life lesson for people. In this enhanced version, enjoy read-along, some fun animations, and a coloring page!

Best friends, clever and adventurous Madlen and Alen find themselves in the Kingdom of Clouds, where they meet Bul-Bul, an amazing magical creature, whose job is to sprinkle rain. In this world full of wonders, everything is different, even the lemonade, which is flavoured rainwater! While Bul-Bul desperately needs to pass a very difficult upgrading test in order to become a Rainbow Painter, the children find out that self-confidence is essential for success. Will they be able to help Bul-Bul pass the test? Everything is getting more dangerous, as they learn about the evil witch, who resides nearby with her weird creatures. Are they ever going to defeat the witch, or is the sky going to be covered in lightning forever?

Seventeen-year-old Gwen is preparing to audition for New York City’s top music schools when her grandfather mysteriously disappears, leaving Gwen only a phone message telling her not to worry. But there’s nothing more stressful than practicing for her auditions, not knowing where her grandfather is, and being forced to lie about his whereabouts when her insistent great-uncle demands an audience with him. Then Gwen meets Robert, also in town for music auditions, and the two pair up to brave the city without supervision. As auditions approach and her great-uncle becomes more aggressive, Gwen and Robert make a startling discovery. Suddenly Gwen’s hopes are turned upside down, and she and Robert are united in ways neither of them could have foretold. . . .

Cloud watching is in danger of becoming a lost art form like the old silent movies, remembering Charlie Chaplin, the sweet little man with a bowler hat, mustache, and cane, or those magical characters of pantomime in extravagant costumes performing in silence just like how cloud formations variously resemble whales, or angel statues, or airy, floating pavlovas topped with whipped cream, or white perennial gardens in bloom with bleached roses, or floating eider male ducks, or spirit bears, those rare American black bears, in the sky floating next to five sheep grazing in a sky pasture of swelling cumulus medium clouds detached with small cloud fragments coasting by all who sprang from beams of luster from our heavenly, celestial walls. I Brake for Clouds is a cloud-watching book reminding us to look up at our sky like looking through an ancient kaleidoscope, observing architectural patterns and combinations, calling forth memories of something so unexpected, making pareidolia hard at work. The sky’s endless formations can be captured in paintings, videos, or within the lines of poetry, and as any cloud spotter will agree, you can never drink too much from our skies.

Grandpa’s Stories is a partial compilation of Joe Kretoski’s life experiences, as well as a few other stories which are included that are important to the author. Every story is true and has potential for spiritual application or character building. These stories should be compelling to youngsters and oldsters. Hopefully your vision of an all-powerful God will be renewed, and your faith increased. If you are discouraged with life and are feeling hopeless, Grandpa’s Stories has the potential to plant a nugget of hopefulness into your heart. God has not changed, and He desires that we all love Him fervently. May Grandpa’s Stories touch your heart as it has the author’s. Happy reading.