How Reading Helps Children and Young People Deal With Loss. Eleanor Clark

 

It’s National Storytelling Week, and a great opportunity for us to celebrate the power of the written and spoken word and its ability to put fire in our imaginations and, sometimes, to show us something about ourselves.

For the schoolchildren the event is aimed at, it’s a lovely opportunity to encourage them to read, write or tell their own stories themselves.

There’s another event that has an extra resonance for us at Rainbows, and that’s Harry Potter Book Night on Thursday, when fans the world over come together to share their enjoyment of the boy wizard and his adventures.

As with the best books and stories, some of Harry’s experiences are not easy: readers would have had to cope with the death of the much-loved Dumbledore and the loss of his parents at a very young age, for example, and follow Harry’s struggles to come to terms with these losses.

But it shows how useful and creative books and stories can be in helping to explain some of the things, both good and bad, that we have to confront in our own lives.

At Rainbows, we believe that both of them can be part of the grieving and healing process for children having to deal with bereavement or another kind of significant loss.

On our website, we have a number of books that we recommend. They include notes from the authors on why they wrote them and the age groups that they are aimed at. If you’re interested, please feel free to find out more at  https://rainbowsgb.org/.

Expelliarmus!