Published by: Ingrid King. Last Updated on: December 3, 2023 by Crystal Uys
Children often experience death and grief for the first time when a beloved pet dies. Helping children through pet loss can be challenging for parents who are also coping with their own reaction to the loss. In Five Trees for Mina, Tony Lovitt sets out to help young readers and their parents deal with losing a pet.
Written from his daughter Shelby’s perspective, this beautifully illustrated book takes us through Mina’s 20 years with the family and to the grief that follows after they have to let her go.
Lovitt approaches this difficult topic with great sensitivity. “Even as an adult, I found that writing the book was a cathartic and emotional experience that helped ameliorate my own feelings of sadness, loneliness and despair,” he writes in the book’s introduction.
I don’t have kids, but it seems to me that this little gem of a book could be a wonderful tool for parents to help children through pet loss.
Five Trees for Mina is available from Amazon.
About the author
Ingrid King is an award-winning author, former veterinary hospital manager, and veterinary journalist who is passionate about cats.
I don’t have kids either, so no need for this book. But I think it would have been good for when I was younger and l remember I didn’t understand what was happening.