Teddy with the Hole in its Heart

A story helping children to understand and work through their grief.

‘The Teddy with the Hole in its Heart’ has been written to help you and your child work through the maze of emotions that death and dying generate within us.

The book is written so you can personalise it as much as possible - Teddy can be a girl or a boy and the important person who dies can be replaced by the name of your special person. Children learn about the world in many ways and stories can help by giving us hooks to explain issues and manage feelings. By personalising this story and reading it through many times it can help us as families to identify and understand our feelings.

This book is part of a series of resources from Standing in the Gap aimed at helping children manage big emotions around grief. Within the ‘Managing Grief’ section of the website (www.sitgap.org/managing-grief) are four videos which work in conjunction with this book and look at:

• Understanding the process of grief

• How do children process death and dying?

• How do I discuss death and dying with my child?

• How can I help my child work through their grief?

What people are saying about this book:

“A beautiful book to help families talk about the sadness of losing someone you love, with lots of practical tips about things you can do together to help your hearts heal” Dr Claire Ashworth, Consultant in Palliative Medicine.

“What a lovely story, such a sensitive and compassionate book on such a difficult subject”. Janet (mum)