For those of us who feel compelled to put our own words and thoughts on paper or use technology, writing in first person is not hard to do. Journaling, writing poetry, being inspired to write a musical script is easier for me to do than an adult writing from a child's point of view. I was previously a child, but I had not experienced loss as a child. I had experienced loss as an adult, a mother and wife. So those feelings of grief could be more easily described in words in my own journals.

As an elementary teacher, I have worked with children. I am experienced in trying to help a child who has lost a loved one. The most common way children experience loss is when they have a pet die. Yet, I have experienced working in a school where 4th grade twin boys were riding their bike across a road and one of the boys was hit by a car and died. The surviving brother experienced the trauma of the accident and the loss of his brother. Our children need help to navigate grief and sorrow. 

There was Bryce (not his real name) who was still grieving the loss of his dad who died from cancer several years later. His Dad was his hero. He rode broncs in the rodeos. Bryce had good days and bad days in the classroom. His Dad was the topic of his speech at a school speech contest, and while he struggled to deliver it, the audience was moved by his loving descriptions. 

The book idea was a challenge from an unlikely source because of my own experiences with loss and supporting children who had lost loved ones. I had never written fiction before, so I learned the processes and consistently maintaining my character, Joy's point of view. There were many, many, and many revisions. As a writer, I had some blind spots. I needed to use ten-year-old vocabulary. I wanted to introduce multiple points of view when this book is written to help children who have lost a loved one, so they can choose to embrace joy and see loss from a variety of perspectives. Yet, children need to read and hear the text in their own voice. They need to experience and understand the process of grief. They need their own questions answered after losing a loved one. They need to find hope and be able to embrace peace, contentment, and joy again. 

Helpers need to understand how to best support a child who has lost a loved one for the same reasons I shared above. When we are adults, we think like adults. There is a gap in books that were available to understand grief and sorrow from a child's point of view. I am fully aware that I captured one child's voice going through the grief process. I hope more books are written to represent a child's point of view because there are so many different scenarios, family situations, and culture that can be addressed in future books.