I liked that this book has a place for kids to interact and write how they are feeling if they are dealing with pet loss.
A sweet book about dealing with a pet loss with lovely illustrations.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC.

What a lovely book for young readers to teach them about grief and loss especially involving a beloved pet. I highly recommend this book to any child who has a pet, or has lost a pet. How can one say goodbye? What can one do after the pet is gone? How can we honour their memory? What else can we do to impact the lives of others? These are all sensitively dealt with. Great illustrations too! Thanks netgalley for this book in exchange for an honest review.

Every child needs help when their beloved pet is about to die or when the pet actually dies. This book would be a perfect gift for any child with a seriously ill pet or a pet which has recently died. As a children’s librarian, I often had parents ask me for simple books about a pet dying. This would be an excellent addition to a public library collection. I especially liked the fact it discussed ways to say goodbye before the pet died. There’s even a place for the pet’s name, a picture and special memories.

'Goodbye, Bella' is a sweet story, teaching kids about coping with and understanding grief and pet loss. i found it to be really gentle yet focused, and the art was beautiful. there was a minor formatting issue when sharing the story of Bella and the cake where several sentences ended and finished in the wrong order so i'm not entirely sure what that part of page 4 is meant to say, but that aside, this was a lovely story. i especially appreciated the sections and the beginning and end to share a photo and story of the reader's pet.

I received an ARC copy of Goodbye, Bella from Kat's Socks (the publisher) in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are my own. Thank you for having this book up for reviewing.

This book was a great reminder that even though pets die we can always remember them. This book had some really unique features. I liked that there were places at the front and back of the book to interact with the book. You can add your pets name at the front. And there is a spot in the back to brainstorm ways to remember your dog. I thought that was such a sweet touch. I lost my dog Dolly over a year ago now. Yet this book still was super impactful to me and helped me to remember that I do not have to just be sad. I can do other things to remember her. I would recommend this book to parents who want a way to talk about a pet dying or close to dying with a younger child. I also think this is a great book to start a conversation with a young child.

Cute little book. I liked the artwork and the simple, repetitive message of saying goodbye and saying I love you. I think it would help a kid to accept death if they're more prepared for it by saying something like that when the dog is still alive.

Thumbs up. I think it does what it's trying to do. The only complaint is some mangled text midway through the book that I'm sure will be fixed up before printing.

As a rescuer and a mom I absolutely endorse this perfect little book about grieving a pet. I think we all need a copy. We can also give this out as a gift to people who have recently lost pets.

The pictures are as endearing as the story. I must admit I had tears in my eyes as I read the story of the love between a girl and her elderly dog. That being said, the story ends on a happy note that demonstrates that "life goes on" and memories live on forever.

I loved the concept of this book. It is something that could really help kids deal with the loss of a pet. I do think it is a bit wordy, and there was a typo it something (I didn't understand the part about burying a cake). Loved the pictures and I think with a little tweaking this could be an amazing book.

This was a sweet story about losing a loved pet due to aging. I liked that the book included what led up to the loss of Bella and the ways they celebrated her life afterwards, and paid it forward for the dogs at the shelter on her birthday. I think this would be a good book to help a younger child prepare and cope with the loss of a pet due to age, particularly because it follows the aging journey and includes active ways to process grief. That said, the typesetting and pictures were a little wonky on my digital screen, which I hope would be fixed once it is available to the public as an e-book. If my library were to get this I would recommend we get a hard copy.

Thank you to Greenleaf and Netgalley for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this eARC. Pet loss is a part of many children’s life. This book explains how the end of a pet’s life may go, and the feelings and emotions children are likely to go through. It’s helpful to have books that reinforce this experience.

I chose Goodbye, Bella for my daughter since we'd just lost her best friend, Titan, and I'm not always the best example of how to deal with loss.

This book had beautiful illustrations and really sweet parts where you could put a picture of your own lost friend and memories about them to help you say goodbye.

I highly recommend this for parents who are trying to find the best way to teach their children about losing a pet without using the "he went to a farm" story.

Goodbyes are never easy, but books like this help.

This is a great read for younger audiences who need help with navigating and coping with the inevitable loss of a pet. I can certainly relate to this as someone who starts prepping herself emotionally once my pets are in the golden stages of life and when I can tell that they are starting to shut down.

Like the book says, goodbyes aren't just for the deathbed and every remaining moment is special.

The reason why I didn't give this book a higher rating despite the merits if its contents is because of the layout. A lot of the text was hard to read against the pictures as the colours clash. Maybe this will be corrected in the physical book but it was a poor reading experience on my digital screen. The illustrations are lovely, but something needs to be done about the font.

Life transitions are often hard for children to understand. When our dog died, our grandchildren had a hard time understanding what had happened. This is a great way to help kids prepare for losing a pet. Thanks #NetGalley

Such a beautiful book about a very hard but important topic for children with pets. The illustrations are amazing and fit very well. I especially liked the parts where children can put their own pictures and thoughts of their late pet in the book.

Such a good book for children, especially those with pets. I love how positively and healthily it shows the circle of life and showcases good coping mechanisms for grief.

There were a lot of grammar and syntax issues so it needs to go through a round of copyediting before publication.

I think it's so important to expose kids to thoughts surrounding grief, loss and mourning. I like how this situation was clearly hard for the family to face but they did so in a loving way. Sure, in life we lose things but it doesn't have to mean we no longer love them. The repeated use of telling Bella she loves her is so important for a kid to be exposed to because it explores the idea that love can still exist without the the person/animal being alive to witness it. I think this book was written in a simply beautiful way and illustrated perfectly. It was too the point and hits you right in the feels. Perfect story for kids!

Thanks Netgalley and the publishers for this arc!

Sweet story about a girl understand her dog has gotten very old and is at the end of her life. She slowly says goodbye and honors her memory. I liked the prompts to help kids who read the book do the same, but I did think the part where she gets another dog seemed a bit rushed. Would still recommend to kids losing their pets.

Goodbye, Bella: A Pet Loss Story by Katherine Pendergast and Lacie Brueckner is about a little girl named Charlotte who says goodbye to her senior dog, Bella, in the most loving way she can think of and cherishes the last few days with Bella. After she passes away, Charlotte and her family celebrate Bella’s life and do activities to honor and remember their sweet Bella.
Saying goodbye to a furry family member isn’t easy, especially for children. My youngest son grew up with our furry guy so when he was put to sleep a month ago it was very heartbreaking especially for my son. This is a 5 page book with illustrations so it’s perfect for little kids. The book’s simplicity is good for kids who love their pets but have to say goodbye.

A perfect book to discuss an important part of life. The book goes into the emotions that a person goes through when losing a pet. As someone who has lived through this later on (older in age) than the main character in this story, I know this process. I really enjoyed it this book and wish that others will too. I really enjoyed the art that went with the story.

There were some grammatical errors here but I know this is not the final product.