Author Series: Grief is a Mess
Welcome to Eluna’s Author Series: A set of read-aloud videos and accompanying author interviews to further support youth affected by grief or a family member’s substance use disorder. This video project aims to elevate select picture books in a user-friendly format to foster hope & healing in the home, classroom, and community.
In this Author Series Read Aloud, we welcome author Jackie Schuld to read Grief is a Mess.
To accompany the video above, we have asked Jackie a series of questions to learn more about her story…
Can you please share the story behind the story?
Throughout my mother’s ovarian cancer treatment, I made her cartoons. Many of them were about the process of grief. After she died, I saw how everyone handled their grief differently. I made cartoons to capture how we were all trying to navigate the messy world of grief and eventually turned them into my book “Grief is a Mess.”
What questions could caring adults ask during or after the book?
- Is there an animal you liked most? Why?
- Point to a particular picture and ask, “Do you ever feel like this?”
- Point to a particular picture and ask, “How do you think they’re feeling? Why?”
- Reference a picture as a way to open dialogue. For example, “That toad looks really sad. He must really miss his mom. What do you think?”
Do you have some recommended activities to do after reading the book?
After reading the book, youth want to be listened to and seen. They also want to know that what they are thinking and feeling is ok. Art provides an avenue for this. I encourage caregivers to draw with children after reading the book. Some ideas include:
- Let’s each draw our own animal.
- If (the deceased) were an animal, what animal do you think they’d be? Let’s try drawing that.
- This book talks about grief being messy. Let’s try making a messy drawing together (scribble on the same piece of paper together).
- Ask the child which animal they liked the best. Then say, “That animal looks really sad. Let’s see who can draw the saddest animal.” Make it a fun competition so that the child knows it is safe and acceptable to express emotions.
*Special Thanks to Jazz Bhatti, Eluna Intern, for supporting the development of Eluna’s Author Series.
