Little bear is waiting for his grandpa when the elephant tells him that is grandpa is dead. The book tells how the animals deal with this and has child friendly illustrations.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC

a very sweet book for children who need help understanding loss and bereavement. We found this helpful with our 6 year old son.

Good children's book to help explain about death. It is about a bear, which makes it a little easier for younger children to digest.

I actually like this book. It wouldn't just be something to read as a goodnight story but for any kid who's recently lost a grandpa, it's perfect.

I think reading this book to a child during a loss like that could help them understand what is going on and give them ideas for closure and getting over it.

I wanted to cry reading this story. It's definitely sad and even though it is a children's book, the reality is that some kids do have to deal with loss at a young age.

This will be my recommendation to anyone I know that has a child with a recent loss.

As a children’s book goes this is the first one I’ve come across that deals so directly with the loss of a loved one. From beginning to end this book was very straightforward.
Some things I felt could have been explained a lot better. Maybe not so directly, so matter of factly. Even that blurb is very head on. In a childs mind it’s likely to raise more questions than it attempts to answer. Of course that can still be a good thing becuase it provides a great opportunity to open an other wise dismal subject.

What makes this book a great companion though for this real life situation is the way in which the loss is handled and more in the way that Bear’s friends showed their support. Especially to someone who has never lost a grandparent. Each character expresses their feelings in different, yet typical ways. One brings flowers, one brings a few pictures, and together they help Bear understand that even though his Grandpa is no longer around, he will always be close by. All Bear has to do is close his eyes and remember the special things they did together. In that sense he will always have Grandpa with him. Much like we do when we lose someone, we hold onto the memories we created to keep our loved ones close at heart.

I think that books like this are definitely needed. It is a helpful way of explaining death to children, but I also think that it was a bit too blunt. It would be an extremely traumatic experience for anyone to simply come home one day and find the dead body of a loved one. I think this could have been handled better. I also think that an adult should have been present in the story to better help the children understand.

Simple story of a little bear finding his dead grandpa. Nice explanation of death for very young children. Various animals, a bird, an elephant, and a chicken all express their grief in different ways and help little bear express his. They help him find ways to remember his grandfather. Good book for a young child who has had a recent loss of a loved one.

I request this book via netgalley just because I love to read and know more children book that talks about grief/death.

And it kinda surprise me how it really touch my heart. Maybe I'm just in a mellow mood when read this, but I feel relate able with the story.

I believe that the characters are just kids, such as Bear, the main character, Bird, and Chicken. I believe that Elephant is the only adult here. Therefore, I like how the author keep it simple. Most kids cannot understand what is grief, sorrow, death. And that is okay.

This book is not about helping kids to understand what death is, this book is help kids to understand that they are not alone, and it's okay. It's going to be okay.

Lovely book. Sad but great for children with a loss. highly recommend this one

Goodbye Grandpa - a little abrupt and direct in dealing with death with a seemingly callous ending but nevertheless has its endearing moments. My first thought on reading the book was that the Bear sure had good friends who were there with him at his time of need, helping him understand the concept of death, and just being there for their friend. As I finished reading the book, I felt that this might be, as mentioned before, a too direct way of teaching kids to deal with death - not much to soften the blow

I was stunned that the grandchild in this story finds grandpa after he has passed away, and there were no adults around to coach the grandchild through it. This book is for a very specific audience, and might be a little too sad for most people.

This book has child-friendly illustrations, but I can't help but feel it's not the choice I would make when explaining death to a child. It's too blunt for one thing. I do appreciate the idea that a loved one always lives on in our hearts and memories, but I strongly disliked the end where life, and fishing, go on. It's a pass for me.

I liked the approach to death in this book. As a family who just dealt with the loss of a grandfather (3 of the grandchildren being at the age level of this book), I think this would be an excellent resource. The message of remembering the good things, keeping grandpa's voice and memories of him alive even though he is no longer physically with you is powerful. I also loved the ending where bear was going to carry on the activities he and grandpa had enjoyed together.
Overall, an excellent approach to a difficult topic. I would definitely recommend to those coping with such loss.

A necessary book to explain the death of a loved one. It’s sad, and had me in tears. But it is lovely. I just wish they didn’t all go fishing in the end.

Little bear is anxiously waiting for his grandfather's arrival as they both are going to fish together for the day. Grandpa doesn't show up. Instead Elephant does with some very bad news. "Grandpa is dead", Elephant says softly to his friend. Oh my!

Bear cannot contain himself when he hears about his beloved Grandpa and tears start to flow. He is beside himself with grief and luckily for him his two good friends, Elephant and Chicken, stay close by his side and give him comfort and advice as how to cope.

Together they show him how to say goodbye to his loved one. Bear wants to give Grandpa a gift so he makes a special heartfelt drawing to present to him when he says goodbye. Chicken wanders off and decides she will pick some of Grandpa's favourite yellow flowers. That will be her gift to him.

Grandpa is laying very still covered in leaves that have fallen from a tree. Each animal in turn express their condolences and present their gift to honour the deceased patriarch.

The trio end their sad day by building a beautiful campfire and sharing happy memories of Grandpa. They answer little bears hard questions that he is seeking answers to. Through all his tears and grief little Bear finally understands that Grandpa has not abandoned him but he will have his Grandpa close to him forever as he has him in his heart.

This heartbreaking and heartwarming book is bitter sweet. It is a gentle story with illustrations that are simple and full of emotion. They enrich the text and give the reader an understanding of loss, grief and hope. I liked the book a lot. I would definitely recommend that the book be read by an adult to a child making it a wonderful catalyst to open up dialogue between the two about what it means to die and how those left behind can find peace about their passing.

A nice little book to help children understand death. Grandpa is found lying on the grass, he is supposed to be going fishing with Bear. Elephant tells Bear,grandpa is dead. Bear begins to dry but his other animal friends comfort him, by asking him to close his eyes so he can see grandpa, and listen because he will be able to hear grandpa in his mind. Bear is greatly comforted by this and by his firends. A nice book abut the power of friendship in a time of need.

Oooh this book was a bit blunt at the beginning! It did improve and they understood a bit more about death and how the relative would always be with them by the end, but I still think the way they find out that Grandpa has died could be a bit more subtle especially if you consider the target age range for the book. 2 stars from me, to be honest if it wasn't for the images being cute and very child friendly it would only be a 1 star book.

I like the idea of this kind of book, helping children to deal with something really difficult. This one didn't stand out, unfortunately. It may be because the Kindle version didn't show any illustrations and the formatting was all wrong...they were going shing, not fishing, and he drew a picture of an sh, not a fish. Strange problem to have.
From what I could read, the story was quite nice, and I'm sure with the illustrations and correct words it'll be very helpful to kids.

Receiving an ARC did not affect my review in any way.

This is a succinct book which addresses the subject of death, which is often quite a taboo with children. A lot of adults entertain the idea that a dead loved one has gone up to heaven, or is up in the sky, or similar. 'Goodbye, Grandpa' is more pragmatic and points out the reality that once someone has passed away, that's it, and they aren't coming back. It's a good way of getting the simple facts out there, although I felt that 'When you're dead, you can't talk, move, or breathe. You're no longer alive' was a little TOO hard-hitting!

It has also been quite blase about the fact that the Bear finds his grandpa dead in the grass. It's quite a heavy storyline for your minds, and I feel it could have been done a little more sensitively. Additionally, the illustrations left a lot to be desired.

GOODBYE GRANDPA is the story of Bear, who is waiting for his grandpa because they are supposed to go fishing together. But then Grandpa dies.

Yup, it's as depressing as that statement sounds. At the same time, though, it's a rather direct, no nonsense approach to telling a child that those we love will die, and we may not know what to do or how to handle it, but we all feel differently in the moment and that's okay. The illustrations are creative, yet simplistic enough to not distract from the message for younger children.