Bibliotherapy for Bereaved Children

Eileen H. Jones worked extensively in Special Education and in School Psychological Services, as a Pastoral Head of first and second year comprehensive school pupils. Her areas of study included Psychology for Children with School Refusal and School Phobia, the use of hypnosis and visualisation in treating anxiety, and the effects of bereavement on children and their families. She also spent six years as an accredited Cruse Bereavement Counsellor.

• Acknowledgements. Introduction. Chapter 1. What is bibliotherapy? An overview. Chapter 2. How real do we want our realism about death? Chapter 3. How do authors present death? Then and now. Chapter 4. How do writers and readers communicate? Chapter 5. Classification of books with topics of death. Chapter 6. Detailed study of the novel `Squib'. Chapter 7. Discussion and implications. Appendix A: Analysis of passage from "Squib".Appendix B: Sources of book lists. Bibliography. References. Index.

This book describes a detailed study by the author into the use of children's fiction in helping children understand and cope with their grief bibliotherapy in bereavement. She sought to develop a classification system providing convenient reference to aspects of bereavement in books covering the topic of death and then to review children's novels within this system of classification. Early chapters follow the author's journey in understanding what is meant by bibliotherapy and how death has been portrayed in literature from the end of the nineteenth century to the present day. However, it is the chapter on Classification of Books that will most interest adults searching for a guide in helping them to select books to recommend to children and young people. The author presents a helpful model of classification, which is then illustrated in three diagrams. These provide a useful visual aid in directing the reader towards books most likely to fit with the particular experience and needs of a young person. More detailed information about these books is then provided which further enhances the selection process. The author is convincing in her conclusion that there is potential in the use of bibliotherapy with bereaved children.