This seemed to be a perfectly helpful little guide to grief, until the ending, which was suddenly, and almost out of place as a result, positive. Using very simple, pared-down and child-friendly sentences, the text says grief is a rock, getting in the way of us eating, sleeping and having fun, and interrupting our lives with its changing size and weight. But as the reader can see, however abruptly, this is not a permanent thing. Nicely illustrated, again with child-appropriate clarity, this joins quite a large pile of similarly-themed volumes, but very much towards the top.

This is a profound and approachable book-for-all-ages on the topic of grief. Grief might feel overwhelming, it changes, it is unpredictable, and others might be uneasy with our grief. It is simple enough for a young reader but the wisdom can reach out to adults as well. Kudos to the illustrator for representation in her illustrations.

Love the way this book presents grief. It is written in a way children can really understand and connect to it.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

What a satisfying book about such an uncomfortable subject. Anything that can help children understand their emotions (especially hard scary ones) is a great thing.

I wish I had this book lasy year for my friend's children, it may have help with the loss of their Memaw

A wonderful resource for children dealing with and learning about loss. Excellent material for parents, elementary school libraries, classroom libraries, and school guidance counselors to use with young children. I will be recommending this book to all of the above!

The Grief Rock is an excellent explanation for how it feels to carry emotional weight. The descriptions of how grief changes from day to day was spot on and felt validating. I would have liked to see a few more pages at the end of the book that explain how carrying the grief changes when you learn to accept it.

Thank you the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

A beautifully simple message, suitable for all ages. The illustrations are delightful .A great book to have on any bookshelf as a comfort of conversation starter.

What a very special book this is! It’s so moving and really touched my heart. With beautiful and expressive illustrations this children’s book teaches children about grief and the cycles of grief. The grief rock is described as feeling heavy and making normal things hard to do like eat, sleep or play. It’s a powerful kids book and the ending, the final message is truly beautiful. To be honest, anyone, of any age can learn about grief in a simple way reading this. I think it’s wonderful that the author write this for her own 3 children after they lost their own Dad. It’s an amazing book that I highly recommend. Five huge stars!

This is a beautiful little book with a message that shines through on every page. It is simply written, yet manages to express a great deal in just a handful of words.

Each page has an illustration and some understanding, comfort or advice to take from it. It is no surprise that it draws on the writer's own experience of profound loss.

Yes, grief IS like a rock, and there ARE times when it is hard to feel anything but crushed by it.

But there is also times when it becomes such a part of you, that it feels almost natural. Because, as the writer says, it is the weight of the love you have for that person.

And when you are able to accept that, to realise that, then the load becomes a little less difficult to carry.

Perhaps one day it will become easier rather than simply less difficult. I really, really hope so.

A wonderful book addressing grief and how it feels. Many books explain death and dying to children, but not many explain grief. This book is valuable for therapists, child life specialists and caregivers!

A very condensed look at what grief is - would be suitable even for younger children or those who don't have the greatest attention spans. It sets out in clear language what grief can feel like, what parts of life it can have an impact on and most importantly it shows the readers that grief changes and morphs, sometimes becoming a smaller rock, sometimes a bigger one, but always one made out of love.

The illustrations by Lily Fossett are very colourful which is not what I expected in a book about grief but I like that decision as it shows children that a "return" to a previous state of seeing the world can happen, that the world still is colourful and waiting for them. Daniels and Fossett made a very good team on this project!

This is probably my favorite book on grief that I have read. It isn't specific about who the grief is about but shows a girl holding a large rock. I love that it mentions how some people don't know what to say, some people will avoid you, some will try to carry it, how it feels heavy and sometimes you can't eat, etc. It really touches on SO many parts of grief and offers so many talking points.

The only thing I wish is that there was back matter with advice for parents on discussing grief. There is a link to a website printed in the author's note but if I am sitting and reading this book with my kids I don't want to pause and go to a website for advice. I want to be able to have it within the book.

Wow. Such a lovely metaphor for grief. It’s such an easy concept that children could relate to and help explain their feelings. We recently lost my father-in-law unexpectedly and my son has buried his feelings while my daughter doesn’t quite know how to deal with hers. I think this would be a great book to read to them, so they might have a better understanding of what they are feeling.

Grief is such a heavy feeling and using a rock to represent that was brilliant. We have dealt with grief in our family and this book was helpful to my seven year old son. I appreciate authors who can explain things better than I can. This book has been one of the best ones we've read navigating through grief, explaining that healing isn't linear, and learning to feel big emotions. This was helpful for me as well and I cried my eyes out reading it. Very validating!

I received a copy from NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions in the review are my own.

This is an absolutely perfect book about grief told so simply I think it will help many kids dealing with grief!

The illustrations and simplicity of this book are perfect.

I will be adding this book to my library collection and you should too!

5 stars

I received this book from the publisher Jessica Kingsley Publishers and NetGalley for a fair and honest review

This book truly nailed the representation of grief. For me at least. It explains the non-linear journey of grief and loss in a manner that's easy for kids to understand, while also tugging on my heartstrings. I found this to be a very cathartic read and will definitely come back to it from time to time again when I need some comfort.

So glad that I read The Grief Rock and I highly recommend it to everyone regardless of age.

Totally written from the heart, this is a superb book for opening discussion around grief and loss with children of all ages - both those who have faced, and are imminently facing, grief. Also those who are friends with those that have as a way to help understand how they may be feeling. Absolute must have for schools/libraries etc

The Grief Rock is a lovely book that gives a concrete metaphor for grief as a rock that we carry around that can feel heavy or light as we travel our grief road. The end of the book gives a new way to look at grief. As a teacher of young children I appreciate how this book gives us a way to talk about something that can feel overwhelming and acknowledges that it's ok to feel these big feelings and that it is all tied to love at its core.
Thanks Netgalley for providing this book.

Beautifully written, simple story to help children understand the feelings they may experience due to bereavement. Perfectly written for parents & ELSAs to share with not only children who have experienced loss but their peers too. Would definitely recommend.

I absolutely adored The Grief Rock. It explains grief in a digestible way for children and I would say for adults too. I loved how it explained grief not just for the one being crushed by grief, but also how others respond to us in our grief. I recommend this to any parent or adult who is struggling to explain grief to a child. It is truly a useful tool and is not too complicated or wordy. Perfect for young readers and for parents.