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jrmarr's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully structured and heartbreakingly written, this is a wonderful glimpse into a family lost in the uncertainty of grave illness.
pause_theframe's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Talk about a deep and meaningful read. Nothing hits quite as hard as trying to go through the motions and finding a path, when you are trying to understand devastating news, for your family. This book hit home in so many ways, and all the while I imagined my husband a children and how we might make this journey.
The author does a wonderful job travelling the path, with her kids, and truly makes the journey a lot more poignant and elegant that life deals us. The way she told the story really pulled at the heart strings and I honestly struggled to put it down, drawn to the stories told and the connections made in life and death.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
The author does a wonderful job travelling the path, with her kids, and truly makes the journey a lot more poignant and elegant that life deals us. The way she told the story really pulled at the heart strings and I honestly struggled to put it down, drawn to the stories told and the connections made in life and death.
I cannot recommend this book enough.
amerasuu's review against another edition
5.0
Really well put together, came across this because Kate Forsyth recommended it.
I didn't know that Tolkien's mum had the same name as my puppy! I knew Mabel was a good name.
I didn't know that Tolkien's mum had the same name as my puppy! I knew Mabel was a good name.
bec_88's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.5
henrymarlene's review against another edition
4.0
“ … to have no fear at all is as absurd as to be full of fear”.
How would you break the news to someone that a loved member of your family is dying? How do you have a conversation about that with their child?
Oh my heart. This book kept my tears flowing in my mind and down my cheeks. This is a touching recollection, a memoir if you will of Chloe Hooper’s partner (Don Watson – I love his book about Paul Keating) who was diagnosed with cancer. Their children are quite young, and the books works us through the anguish and uncertainty of death, and in essence, how to explain the death of a parent to a young child. At the same time, the process of how to communicate this seems like a cathartic journey for Chloe. older partner/father and two young children.
Chloe seeks out literature and books for children that talk about death, and deal with death. She buys books that address grief in ways that are suited for children, as well as looks into how death is dealt with in literature, and how several prominent authors dealt with the passing of their own parents and siblings as writers. There are illustrations, almost like monochrome watercolours in the book. They speak so much more where they are situated in this book than the words do.
This book is sweet, intimate, raw and emotional. It is honest, it captures fear and the unknown, and is comforting at the same time. I felt like a voyeur into Chloe’s life yet at the same time I felt like she had wrapped a large fluffy blanket around all of our shoulders to explain dying to us.
“If we pay attention, Death can show us how best to live.”
How would you break the news to someone that a loved member of your family is dying? How do you have a conversation about that with their child?
Oh my heart. This book kept my tears flowing in my mind and down my cheeks. This is a touching recollection, a memoir if you will of Chloe Hooper’s partner (Don Watson – I love his book about Paul Keating) who was diagnosed with cancer. Their children are quite young, and the books works us through the anguish and uncertainty of death, and in essence, how to explain the death of a parent to a young child. At the same time, the process of how to communicate this seems like a cathartic journey for Chloe. older partner/father and two young children.
Chloe seeks out literature and books for children that talk about death, and deal with death. She buys books that address grief in ways that are suited for children, as well as looks into how death is dealt with in literature, and how several prominent authors dealt with the passing of their own parents and siblings as writers. There are illustrations, almost like monochrome watercolours in the book. They speak so much more where they are situated in this book than the words do.
This book is sweet, intimate, raw and emotional. It is honest, it captures fear and the unknown, and is comforting at the same time. I felt like a voyeur into Chloe’s life yet at the same time I felt like she had wrapped a large fluffy blanket around all of our shoulders to explain dying to us.
“If we pay attention, Death can show us how best to live.”
loujbee's review against another edition
5.0
“It’s still there. As am I. As your father is. Close to you, all together, safe, inside these pages”
Bedtime Stories is a beautiful memoir, a love story through an intensely difficult time with her partner’s cancer diagnosis. Hooper, seeking guidance from children’s literature, searches for the best way to deliver this news to their sons. There is so much beauty in this book.
Bedtime Stories is a beautiful memoir, a love story through an intensely difficult time with her partner’s cancer diagnosis. Hooper, seeking guidance from children’s literature, searches for the best way to deliver this news to their sons. There is so much beauty in this book.
elisa_pretty's review against another edition
3.0
I guess I was expecting something else.. it’s a nice story with a positive end, which I am happy, but… every page was leaving me with this feeling of “but”.. hard to explain!