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Children's Books
Title: KATE THE GHOST DOG: COPING WITH THE DEATH OF A PET Author: WAYNE L. WILSON Rating:  Must Read!
Publisher: MAGINATION PRESS Web Page: http://www.apa.org/pubs/magination/index.aspx Reviewed by: Eric Jones |
 
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We all have that story about how our first pet died, and how we dealt with it. But even as that death changed us we cannot impart that emotion to our sons and daughters, pain and loss being a private emotion. What we can do is what Wayne L. Wilson has done with his first book, "Kate, the Ghost Dog", in what I hope will be a series of books that offer the kind of sympathy and understanding children need at times when sorrow and frustration are keenly felt. "Kate, The Ghost Dog" is an early reader book for children ages of about 8 - 12, about a girl named Aleta who comes home from school one day to find that her dog has passed on. Aleta has trouble accepting her dog's death. She becomes reserved from school and shies away from her parent's attempts to console her. Throughout the course of the book, through the help of her friends and family Aleta comes to terms with her grief and demonstrates various methods which might also help young readers in similar situations. This is a beautifully packaged book, with full page color illustrations by Soud which look like they come straight out of a Disney animated feature. It's humor and heart will appeal to young children who can read it in privacy or with their parents. The final page also makes special mention of the lessons covered in its story, with brief and helpful descriptions that reassure and reaffirm children that they are not alone.
The questions that death raises are intelligently avoided
in "Kate, the Ghost Dog" as often those are among families
to discuss privately held beliefs, or for other books to
contemplate. Wayne L. Wilson's focus is on the gaping hole
that's left in children's lives when a young one loses a pet
or someone close to them. And it's reverent, consoling, and
absolutely spot on. I couldn't recommend a better title for
a child who has just lost a pet than "Kate, the Ghost Dog".
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