My eldest son was only three years old when his great-granddad died. We tried to break the news gently, but our little boy was devastated. He pulled the bed covers high over his head and hid from us. And no matter how much we tried to talk to him, or comfort him, he wouldn’t come out.

I was a young, inexperienced mom, with another toddler to cope with and pregnant with a third. It was our first family experience of death. I didn’t know what to do. So I let him be.

If only I could have read a wonderful book called The Memory Box with him! My creative son would have made his own little memory box straight away, and we would have filled it with photographs and mementos of him and his great-granddad as they walked by the seaside, or caught crabs, or ate a cream tea together. That way, we would have ensured that his beloved great-granddad would never be forgotten. And in the making of that box, and in the returning to it, we would have shared memories, and conversation, and laughter, and tears.

This is the wonderful idea behind The Memory Box, a beautiful book written by Joanna Rowland to help a young child cope with the loss of a loved one. Read on for a peek inside and a chance to win your own copy… Continue reading →