In this powerful picture book about a girl experiencing loss, The Good for Nothing Puddle helps children explore the nature of grief and loss and leads them to find hope and redemption from pain. This book will help a lot of children to get moved from trauma behind.

Oh, how I wish I read this book as a child... This book is for all the Highly Sensitive People who don't know what to do with their Big Sad Feelings. It helps explain the heaviness that may accompany an almost inexplicable grief, as well as the healing that may come in time. Children (and even adults!) often don't have all the words to explain the way they're feeling, but this book helps illustrate what may be an extremely difficult time for many. Speaking of, the illustrations are perfectly simplistic and poignant. Excellent job!

What a great book to help kids understand grief. I loved the perspective it gives and how it explains what grief feels like when we stuff it down. It helps describe the both/and of processing grief and the beautiful things that can come after.

Another grief book for kids. This was an interesting spin, speaking in metaphor about our grief being a puddle. I enjoyed the life that grew from the puddle in the end of the book. I think this one was a little more abstract and my 3yo didn’t grasp the concept as well as a 6+yo would.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

This book, with its beautiful illustrations and gentle, honest depiction of grief, deserves to be in every school’s bereavement toolkit. For families with a faith background, Jana Jackson has produced a story woven from her own experiences which would be of enormous benefit to anyone supporting a child who has lost someone special. The notes for adults inside are excellent and I would have no hesitation in including this book in a bereavement bag ready to be lent to any family who needs it.

This is a special book. Helping kids through grief in a healthy way is crazy hard. My kids lost both of their grandparents (my husband's parents) in the last few years to horrific cancers, and we are always looking for ways to help them grieve and be ok with feeling what they feel but also trusting God and continuing to live in the joy of knowing Jesus. I'm so grateful I found this book on netgalley and will be recommending it to people I know who need something like this for their children. The lessons in this book can also even help adults. I related to her as she tried to push her sadness all the way down to her toes and the puddle following her everywhere she went. Grief is ever changing and does not have a timeline. Then how her pain and grief was used to help others - what a beautiful example of what the Bible teaches about God using what we go through to help other people. By the end of the book I was crying. <3 Thank you for this book. It will be a gift to so many. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. All thoughts are my own.

The illustrations are very nicely done and simple for the heaviness of the book. A girl is grieving the loss of something she loved that has gone away and her grief is depicted in a puddle at her feet. The author does a great job of showing how “This good for nothing puddle” actually has benefits and the girl slowly starts to understand that happiness does come from it. I read this book aloud to my 5 year old and she did not grasp the concepts the book intended. I would read this book to an older audience of around 8-10 years of age.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zonderkidz Books for the advanced reader copy. This book will be published on Feb 11, 2025.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy

I thought this was a charming and somewhat silly book. I can imagine if this book had been published when I was younger, it probably would've been one of my favorites.

A profound tale that shares how to deal with grief when you are young - obviously we hope children will not have to, but so many do.

Looking through my reviews, you might be as surprised as I am to find this in my reading queue, let alone my first review of the year, but here we are. When my better half received this as an ARC copy, I found it so enchanting that I needed to read it for myself.

<i>The Good for Nothing Puddle</i>, written by Jana Jackson during a period of great familial loss, is full of charm and provides an unexpectedly deep and heartfelt commentary on how God turns our "less than" moments into grace-filled blessings. I also felt it relayed a bigger message about how we can sometimes perceive ourselves in opposition to how God sees us. The story is well-written and gets its point across without becoming preachy. It also does not talk down to its intended audience (which is presumably younger than this nearly 60-year-old guy).

Story and message aside, the art from Abby Jartos is what truly brings it all to life. Her unnamed girl is starkly, wonderfully drawn and stands stubbornly alone, a harsh black-and-white figure against the colorful world that surrounds her. Watching her discover where that color comes from is lovely.

My thanks to NetGalley and Zonderkidz (the children's division of Christian publishing giant Zondervan) for providing this advanced reader's copy. My partner has already informed me we will be purchasing the book upon its release. I have no problem with that!

Excellent book!!! I can identify even as an adult finding my puddle of sadness with inner thoughts of "I'm not worthy."
As i embark on a new journey in my nursing career, a school nurse, this author and book gives me the understanding of I may not able be to fix it or take away the hurt, (which nurses always want to do!), instead, I can give support and a hug if needed.
Jana Jackson and Abby Jartos make a great team!! The author's insight and spiritual background are clear and Abby Jartos brings to life real emotions like sadness, anger, anxiety, and happiness. This book allows children and adults alike the feelings of "I'm not alone."
I received an advanced copy to read from NetGalley and Zonderkidz.

What a beautiful book for adults and children to share together. Feelings can be tough to define and work through but the feeling of loss is shown cleverly through the use of the puddle. It's a good reminder of how people view things from different perspectives.

I picked this book because of the cover and the illustrations inside did not disappoint – I loved them. The puddle is a metaphor that works well because it could represent a lot of different types of feelings or sad things but I feel like would need to be explored with some clear adult support to really get the benefits. I appreciated the note from the author at the end and the scripture references included at the bottom though wish they had been included more directly in the story because the Biblical wisdom isn’t very clear from the story text itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Zonderkidz Books for an electronic copy to review – I enjoy seeing the good picture books coming out. This book is expected to be published and out in early February 2025.

There is a little girl who is very sad in The Good for Nothing Puddle. She cries so hard that a puddle of tears forms around her. A completely hopeless feeling grips her. Even hiding from the puddle wasn't an option. One day, she decides to ask for help. She falls to her knees and prays, "God, will you please take my puddle away?" She waits and waits, but nothing happens. A puppy comes scampering up to the girl one day. A thick layer of mud covers the puppy. A little girl cleans the puppy's face with some of the puddle. Afterward, a farmer asks for some of her puddle to cool himself off. A painter comes by asking for help with his dried out paints. It is impossible for her to help because she is stuck in a good-for-nothing puddle. The grass around the puddle soon grows flowers and the girl grows happy. Throughout the process, God had been listening.

Thank you NetGalley for sharing this oil for review.

Beautifully written children’s book addressing grief in a digestible way.
Good read to support family and friends.

Wow, this is a wonderfully comforting book which will help you deal with grief and sadness. The story is simply profound, and profoundly simple. It is psychologically and religiously accurate. Quite simply the story deals with: how do we cope with grief. At the end of the book, the author describes her recent history and her life story, which is very moving. The book is ideal for children but also for this 72 year old, who found this a very wise book, indeed. By using reframing, there is much that our grief can teach us and our grief can greatly assist others too. A wonderful, brief parable.

Always important to look on the bright side of life. What is horrific and awful to you, could be the one thing someone desires. Great read. My nieces and nephews would enjoy. With messages loud and clear to parents, and simple enough kids will see too.

This is a great book for anyone going through a hard time. It is written to help children but has so much practical advice woven into the story that we can all benefit from it. Highly recommend this for all Christian bookstores and libraries that have a Christian reading section. A great reminder that God is with us through all the valleys of our life.

I received an electronic ARC from Zonderkidz-Books through NetGalley.
This young girl has lost someone important and is caught in sadness and grief. Readers see her struggle to block her feelings until they explode. Jackson captures this method of trying to cope beautifully through her words and the artwork. I appreciate the puddle that stays with her as the physical representation of her feelings. This girl learns that her puddle can provide what others need as she encounters a puppy, a farmer, and an artist. The final pages offer hope and encouragement that healing will come. A lovely book to share with those who have lost someone. Do read the Author's note at the end.

“The Good for Nothing Puddle” is an excellent story about how pain can be used to help others. Being sad and hurt is an uncomfortable position to be in and lots of people try to avoid it. But this beautifully illustrated book shows how God uses the pain and hurt to grow you and reveal how good and loving He is.