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Stewart's Tree: A Book for Brothers and Sisters When a Baby Dies Shortly after Birth ISBN: 9781785923999
Campbell, Cathy
Published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2018
This achingly beautiful book about a little girl whose new baby brother has died shortly after birth is moving, loving, and at the right level for young children to begin to understand what has happened. Ellen is very excited because she has something wonderful to look forward to. It isn't the beach, or the park, or movie night at home. It is a new baby brother, and when Granny and Papa appear, it is apparent the new baby will too. When Ellen meets baby Stewart, she thinks his cot looks like a space ship because there are so many wires and screens around him. There is something wrong, but when mum and dad and Ellen are allowed to take Stewart outside for a short walk, they talk about his feeling the rain and the sun and the wind and are happy he is there with them. Soon, though, Granny takes a phone call that Ellen overhears: 'They've lost the baby,' Granny says. Ellen is perturbed, but decides she must look for him, and so she does. We see her around the house looking everywhere, but then thinks perhaps he has gone to the moon in his space ship. People begin to arrive with food and cards, which she thinks must be for Stewart, but she doesn't know where he is. Mum and Dad must explain in simple terms that Stewart is dead, that he 'wasn't strong enough to live outside mummy's tummy.' They plant a cherry tree in his memory, and in the end picture we see Ellen, now grown, sitting under the tree and remembering Stewart. There are two pages of advice for parents dealing with a young child suffering the loss of a sibling, from SANDS, the Stillbirth and neonatal death charity and they will be invaluable. The illustrations are superb in their simplicity and gentleness. Available from Amazon, from book shops and from the publisher: www.jkp.com.
Age: 3+