Saddest Time by Norma Simon, Jacqueline Rogers (Illustrator), Jacqueline Rogers (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Explains death as the inevitable end of life and provides three situations in which children experience powerful emotions when someone close has died.

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4 Three short stories on the death of an uncle, a school friend and a grandmother. Although these stories mention events leading to each death and some shared moments with this person, children do not learn how to talk to someone who is dying, why the death is so strongly felt or what the long-term coping process is really like for family and friends. One gets the impression that these stories are examples to complement a curriculum guide on death and dying. They are unlikely choices for recreational reading and offer little resolve to this crucial issue. Simons' We Remember Philip (Albert Whitman, 1978), Andrea Flack Clardy's Dusty Was My Friend (Human Sciences Pr, 1984) and Elizabeth Richter's Losing Someone You Love (Grosset, 1986) are better written, more complete and will assist the healing process. Rogers' black-and-white pencil illustrations are well drawn. Simon has provided many delightful, well-written and thoughtful books in the past. This one is a sad supplement to her list. Ruth Amernick, San Francisco Public Library

School Library Journal

Illness, accident, and old age provide three different scenarios in which children experience powerful emotions when someone close has died. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

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