The Window
Laura Gehl and Udayana Lugo
Studio Press

Written from the child’s viewpoint this is a beautiful, sensitively written (Laura Gehl) and illustrated ( Udayana Lugo) heartfelt story about a little girl and her relationship with her beloved grandfather in the last weeks and days of his life.

Visiting Grandpa alongside the child during his long-term illness, readers share the love that exists between the two as they look at the view from the window of her grandpa’s hospital room and talk about the things they’ll do together on the beach they see below, when as the little girl says, the old man is better.

That’s not what happens though for Grandpa gets progressively worse and eventually dies. It’s a very sad time as we see, but at the end there’s an unexpected, yet very powerful, heartening twist to this poignant tale. It’s one that serves as a reminder that although no longer physically with us, loved ones are always present.

At the end of the book are some helpful, supportive words of advice from psychotherapist Dr Sharie Coombes about how to talk with a child about the death of a much loved family member.