Pat Mood has spent 20 years working with individuals and families facing death and bereavement. She has been involved in setting up a hospice-based bereavement centre, training professionals and volunteers and facilitating group work with bereaved children. She is currently a social worker at East Cheshire Hospice, Macclesfield. Lesley Whittaker was a primary school teacher for many years before training as a counsellor. She worked for six years as Bereavement Services Co-ordinator for a large local hospice. This led her into working with bereaved children both individually and in groups. At present she has a private practice in counselling, training and supervision.

• 1. Letter of explanation from the authors to readers. 2. Feelings, thoughts and the way things change after someone close has died. 3. What are the thoughts and feelings? 4. Finding a way through the difficult things. 5. What difficult things have to be coped with? 6. How bad can it get? 7. What helps? 8. A letter from a teenager. 9. Practical exercises. Resources: Books, games and organisations.

Many children would find it helpful to realise that what they are going through is shared by others and quite normal and that it will get easier with time. I liked the exercises in the book which give children and young people an opportunity to access thoughts and feelings that may be confusing and express them in a way that is helpful.