Oh wow. I need to recommend this book to my counselor friends. This is the perfect book for handling grief! It doesn't diminish the grief. It doesn't white wash feelings or make everything rosy. It also, in one very telling illustration, shows that while trying to be strong for the child, the other parent is also going through grief themselves.

This book encourages children to find ways to keep memories alive. I think that aids with that fifth stage of grief--acceptance. ( )

On the day of his mother’s funeral, a young boy conjures the very visitor he needs to see: a gorilla. Wise and gentle, the gorilla stays on to answer the heart-heavy questions the boy hesitates to ask his father

Where did his mother go?

Will she come back home?

Will we all die?

Most of all, the gorilla knows that it helps to simply talk about the loss—especially with those who share your grief and who may feel alone, too.

Thank you Goodreads and Candlewick Press for a chance to read The Boy and the Gorilla by Jackie Azúa Kramer and illustrator Cindy Derby!

I entered this giveaway because my son saw it and asked me to try and win it. This is beautiful sad story about a boy who loses his mother. The illustration is this book is just absolutely beautiful. After reading it I went back just so I could look at the pictures more closely. It was a sad book and hopefully about a position I hope to never have to be put in. But it still was a very wonderful read. Happy reading everyone!! ( )

In a mixing of metaphors, unspoken grief is the 800-pound gorilla in the room of a household that has recently experienced a death in the family. Or is the gorilla a metaphor, since he is actually there and breaks the silence about the dead person.

Regardless, this sad but very well done book should be a pretty effective tool to begin a philosophical conversation about death with a young person. ( )

This is a wonderful book about grief (in as much as grief can be considered wonderful) that will help persons of any age. the Gorilla is so beautiful and I could feel the emotions from the gorilla from the illustrations. This is definitely a must read. ( )