A Little Book of Self-Care for Those Who Grieve
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Product Details
Publisher: Girl Friday Books
Release Date: September 28, 2021
Formats: Hardcover, Ebook, Audiobook
ISBN: 978-1-736357-95-8 (hc); 978-1-736357-96-5 (eb); 978-1-954854-10-9 (ab)
Trim: 5 x 7
Page Count: 112
Paula Becker, illustrated by Rebekah Nichols
Weep. Scream. Hate. Disbelieve. Go numb.
Breathe.
This beautiful book offers a gentle and honest guide for surviving the early days of grief—shock, trauma, disbelief—and beyond. In simple, easy-to-absorb pages composed of short, poetic text and spot illustrations, readers will begin to find the path they need to move through their grief, step by step. From grieving a sudden death or a long illness, someone hard to love or impossible to live without, anyone suffering a loss will see themselves and their grief reflected in these pages.
When author Paula Becker’s son was killed in 2017, she reached for grief books to help her understand how to proceed through the enormous grief engulfing her. Most grief books are tens of thousands of words long—helpful resources, but often too overwhelming for the newly bereaved to navigate with shattered attention spans and broken hearts. With A Little Book of Self-Care for Those Who Grieve, as only someone who knows grief intimately can, Paula Becker offers grievers a touchstone, quiet snippets of care and advice that can be returned to again and again as they travel the lifelong road of grief.
In the vein of It’s OK That You're Not OK, A Little Book of Self-Care for Those Who Grieve acknowledges the brokenness, the pain, and how grief alters your reality and with great tenderness and gentle compassion, walks with readers in that new world. A resources section rounds out this essential book.
About the Author and Illustrator
Paula Becker is a writer and historian living in Seattle, Washington. She is the author of the memoir A House on Stilts: Mothering in the Age of Opioid Addiction (University of Iowa Press), a finalist for the 2020 Washington State Book Award, and of the book Looking For Betty MacDonald: The Egg, The Plague, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle and I (University of Washington Press).
Visit the author’s website at paulabecker.org
Rebekah Nichols is an artist who works primarily in watercolor and has worked as an illustrator for several years. She has done work ranging from editorial to packaging. She graduated from the University of Kansas with a BFA in design with a concentration in illustration in 2007. She lives in Austin, Texas.
View the illustrator’s portfolio at theispot.com/artist/rnichols
Reviews
“Becker’s authentic sharing of her own experience offers readers suggested instruction rarely given but frequently sought after. This book will go a long way to help others who struggle with the death of a loved one feel less alone.”
—Laura Takacs, LICSW, MPH, Clinical Director,Grief Services, Virginia Mason Medical Center
“There’s no map for grief, but . . . Paula Becker’s suggestions light a path to navigate the early days of intense grief and heartbreak.”
—Jana DeCristofaro, LCSW, Community Response Program Coordinator, The Dougy Center for Grieving Children and Families
“This book is perfect. It’s truly perfect in every way. It finds the right words to express what you feel, and has the right words to comfort and be able to breathe. Most importantly, it makes you feel ok, and that you are not losing your mind, even in those moments when grief overwhelms you and your pain is more than you can handle. I have read a lot about grief since my mom died Christmas 2016. More recently, I came home from work on April 8, 2021 to find my partner dead. This book is the best one I’ve read, because it actually helps. I’m not crazy for wearing his shirts or mom’s necklaces. It’s OK to have normal dishtowels and special ones (mom’s), which I treat more carefully, and a million other little things that I do or I keep and treasure for the most benign reasons. This book is important. This book helps. This book should be given to everyone who has lost someone recently. This book can give people who feel they don’t want to continue a life without the person they lost moments to catch a breath, things to do to process the grief, permission to feel their feelings, something that soothes and calms and the sense that it will become bearable with time. Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a free review copy, and to Paula Becker for writing this book, which has made a difference in my life. That’s priceless beyond what my words can express.”
—Katarina O.
“This book was great. Like the title, it’s a book of self care for those who are grieving. Excerpts are short and are easy to read through. This book reminds those to breathe, process, and just take care of you during an extremely difficult time. I did wish the book was a bit longer, but as the author explains, it’s the perfect length for those who are still in the early stages of grief (as well as those who have been grieving for some time). I’m happy that this book exists (and will be published in a few months), because I’ve never seen a book like it for those who are grieving. I wish I had this book when my mom passed away last year.”
—Alexis W.
“This is a beautiful book with simple advice for grieving folks that reads almost like a poetry book. It’s illustrated with gorgeous deep blue watercolors and some other watercolor images. I really loved the blue pages (similar to the cover) and felt that they added greatly to the sparse but helpful words. I am grieving more people than I can list and my husband is still really feeling the loss of both of his parents last fall. The advice here won’t magically make the pain go away but it is helpful and loving. Its very short nature is also good for those of us who don’t have the time or emotional energy to read a big long treatise on grief and just want some comfort. Well recommended.”
—Alicia Bayer
“This book is a gem for all who’ve lost a loved one and want to be reassured that the things they do, feel are normal. This book actually helps with processing and to continue living with grief, because let’s be honest it never really goes away completely. It explains how the things that made us think we were crazy, like keeping the most questionable items of loved ones, or wearing their clothes are completely fine. A lot of grief-process books focus on how one should get over grief. This book lets you live through it and helps with how not to feel bad about needing a break, a breath or to let loose. It doesn’t give the science blah-blah or delve into the history of life, death and the such. It focuses on the now, you and your feelings. It was also the perfect length, I often find that self-help books want to have it all. Contain every information and tips possible instead of focusing on the important things. Out of all the books I’ve read on the subject, I would recommend this the most so far."
—Judit Béres
