I have a two year old son and, technically, his first pet is my dog, who is nearing old age. I know it will happen one day where she will pass and he'll be confused and sad. In reading this children's book, I didn't know what exactly to expect. However, in my opinion, it was more happy than sad. It teaches children to remember the good things about their pet rather than focus on the inevitable and the bad parts. And, even though another pet becomes a member of the family, it doesn't erase the original.

Thank you NetGalley and River Grove Books for a copy of Goodbye, Bella!

"Saying goodbye to a pet is hard for everyone, especially children. In this thoughtful picture book, a young girl named Charlotte says goodbye to her dog, Bella, in the most loving way she can think of and cherishes the last few days with her beloved pet. After Bella passes away, Charlotte and her family celebrate Bella’s life and do activities to honor and remember their sweet Bella."

What a wonderful book to discuss pet loss and grief. This book provides parents a script on how to deal such a difficult topic... rather than ignoring it or putting it aside! I highly, highly recommend this to parents, caregivers, teachers, therapists, etc! An amazing book to add to your toolbox.

Goodbye, Bella is a great book to help children learn about pets' old age and the death and grieving process. I thought that conversations that Charlotte had with Bella as she observed Bella growing older and closer to death were important to teach children.

Because I received an digital ARC, formatting was a bit weird. It was the only thing I had any real issues with.

Goodbye, Bella is a beautiful children's book about losing a beloved pet. The girl in the story has an older Great Dane who is coming to the end of her life. I loved the focus on showing our loved ones care and celebrating them. This would probably be best for kids age 4-7.

As a parent, this book gave me the feels. It was a sweet and relatable book about preparing to and losing a pet that we love and have so many memories with. My daughter didn't connect to it as well as some kids books about loss though, which is why I am giving it 4 stars

I think learning about death is incredibly important for children, and helps them avoid developing a fear of death as they grow up. For many children, pet death is the first death they will experience, and I am deeply appreciative of every author and artist creating stories to make that process hurt as little as possible.

Goodbye, Bella, had a great premise, and the art was gorgeous. I think some parts were a bit too wordy for younger audiences, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing.

The ending, where the family replaced Bella with a dog who looked exactly like her and the fact that they named her Stella felt a bit...off to me. I think it's very important for children to learn to move through their grief, and I'm not sure that replacing Bella as closely as possible gives children the best ideas about what life after loss is like.

Overall, I do think Goodbye, Bella, was a very bittersweet story, and could be a good option for children who have recently lost a pet, or who are about to have a pet put down. I am glad to see more stories about death aimed at young children.

GOODBYE, BELLA is a short and bittersweet story follows the perspective of Charlotte, a young child, as she is adjusting to the news of her beloved family dog, Bella, is expected to pass away in the near future. Throughout the story, readers are following Charlotte in her day to day life spending time with Bella and saying goodbye to her. I'm sure for many animal lovers and pet owners like me, this story will hit home. I have lost pets in the past and it never gets easier. They become a friend and family member that you're excited to see each day and sad to let go. The story is a cute one, written in a style families and children would enjoy reading together and balances the grief subject well. 5 stars.

Having pets and children it is always important to approach sensitive topics such as their loss with honesty and understanding and I feel this book did that in a simple to understand way. It would be a good story to read for a family with an aging animal, to share the reasons the animal may be different than they used to and help ease the child into the coming loss.

My own children have experienced loss of pet in a quicker fashion, one that we didn’t see coming due to a genetic condition that was a rapid decline, and another loss due to a car accident which were very quick and no way to ease them in. So for these situation, while they grieve a more sudden loss, I am unsure how this book would have supported them.

I do feel this story has impact and importance for many families, including mine when our other (older) pets may start their decline. I would recommend this book to families of aging animals with young children to help share with them what is coming and how we can improve the quality of the last few days, honor the pet, and move on while never forgetting them.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A book that helps children deal with the death of a beloved pet is always welcome. This one, however, seems unique in that it helps them prepare for the inevitable goodbye. The young girl in this beautifully illustrated book helps care for her elderly dog Bella during her final days, in addition to celebrating her life after the dog has passed.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a really well done take on death and dying that is appropriate for young children. I love that it has space for photos and information on your own pets.

I particularly liked that it didn’t start at the loss of the pet, but during the end of the pet’s life. This could make it easier for a child to see that the sad and difficult behavior of your aging pet is normal, although still deeply sad.

Instead of focusing a lot on the sadness and harder part of grief it focused more on the celebration of the life, sharing memories and coming together with others who were touched by their life. It’s an important part of the grieving process and probably even more so for a child.

This would be a very good gift for a child who has recently lost a pet, or will soon die to sickness or age.

Read this with my children 8/ 11. They were concerned about how quickly they got a new dog, but otherwise appreciated the story. The illustrations were lovely.

Overall I loved it as a childrens story. It got the point across without going to into depth of what happen to poor Bella.

Pendergast's story is a good tool to use to teach children the process of pet loss and grief.
A beautiful story about a well loved family pooch who has reached the end of her years.
The MC makes the story poetical by saying goodbye to Bella each time they share one last memory together.

We just lost our beloved pet a few months ago and this was a wonderful story to read together. The ARC definitely has some type of formating issues/ errors on the funeral/cake pages but we were able to understand what was going on.

I do recommend reading through it once before with kids as it is emotional and brought me to tears. May not be suited for all children.

This tender, sweet picture book is about a girl's relationship with her aging Great Dane and grief when the dog dies. This will help families who are going through similar situations, and the book even includes a space in the endpapers for a child to write about their dog and include a picture.

The advance copy I read had some serious formatting issues, which meant that I couldn't read all of the text, but I was still able to see enough of this to know for sure that it's good. I didn't love the introduction of a new dog at the end, however. That is a very natural progression for most families, but since you can't sense the passage of time in the story, this seemed to short-circuit the grieving process. Still, I would definitely recommend this to people who are preparing to say goodbye to a beloved family pet or are grieving a recent loss, and this is a great book for libraries to have on hand for when people need it.

Goodbye, Bella: A Pet Loss Story, by Katherine Pendergast and Lacie Brueckner and illustrated by Svetlana Urbanowicz, is a moving book that offers many opportunities to talk about love and death with children.

I don't know how well I would do reading this aloud to my children (okay, they're a bit old, maybe my great grandchild), I would be crying quite a bit. But that isn't necessarily a bad thing, it shows how crying and grieving is natural and okay.

When I first downloaded the book I was thinking in terms of reading it to a child after a pet has died, but I think it is really for when you know an animal's death is imminent. It serves to help prepare a child as well as give her more ways to show the love while still alive. Plus, the ways in which you can remember or memorialize your pet after death is great.

I would recommend this to any parent who prefers to help their children prepare for the sad moments in life rather than let those moments blindside the child.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via NetGalley.

Rating: **** (4/5)

Losing a pet can be difficult, especially for children who may not understand what is happening to their beloved four-legged best friend, but "Goodbye, Bella" is a wonderful introduction into what to expect when a dog enters it's golden years. The story follows a young girl, Charlotte, as she says goodbye to her dog, Bella, with heartwarming activities such as cuddling or eating a favorite snack.

Highlights: Beautiful illustrations that aren't overwhelming. Story is repetitive which is great for young readers to comprehend the story's lesson. I like that it's a realistic expression of a dog's end of life progression.

Lowlights: I felt like the ending depicted grieving as something that is short lived. It might suggest that a way to cope with pet loss is to adopt a new pet which is why I deducted one star from an overall great book.

Thank you NetGalley for sending me this ARC for review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Goodbye, Bella is a very sweet and heartfelt story following a young girl named Charlotte who learns that her dog Bella is coming to the end of her life. She starts to understand about death and how it’s okay to say goodbye. I wish there would have been something like this when I was a kid.

I love the idea of the interactive pages in the beginning and end of the story for the reader to remember their own pet with. That was a really nice touch. I think this would be very helpful for parents when explaining or preparing their kids for the loss of a pet.

There was a formatting issue on the page with Bella and the cake, but otherwise the drawings were nice and the message beautiful.

Our family recently suffered the loss of our sweet dog and talking my young children through the process of slowly losing their dog to old age was so heartbreaking. Goodbye Bella would have been an incredible story and resource to share with them during that time. Its beautiful illustrations and calming words help a younger audience understand how to show their love and to say goodbye to a special pet. It even includes spots to put a picture of your own pet.

A very sweet and short book about the love a child has for their pet and a sweet explanation about ways we say goodbye and honor our pets memories. This book is definitely more appropriate for a child who is losing an aging pet rather than a pet who suddenly passes.