The Hare-Shaped Hole

Product Information

A fabulous book all about helping our kids to be brave and resilient - we've got the activity sheets as stand alone, or use them with the book too. This book is incredible and I strongly recommend it for bereavement work. It isn’t that often I am excited by a book. Hurtle and Bertle were a pair, they had always been a pair. One was a turtle and one was a hare but they didn’t matter to the pair, best friends forever hey were always together until … unexpectedly … there was an end.

Buy from our bookstore and 25% of the cover price will be given to a school of your choice to buy more books. *15% of eBooks. Home >A beautiful, gentle, rhyming exploration of grief and mourning." -Joe Coelho, Waterstones Children's Laureate

Denial– when Bertle is looking for Hertle and he can’t believe it is true that his friend has gone.

Books for children and their teachers

What would help them feel better? Use drawing or painting to explore activities that make them feel better and can help them forget for a while. It might be things like ‘reading a book, watching a movie, playing with friends’ etc. Help the pupil make a ‘First aid kit’ for big feelings. They can put all the ideas inside to help them feel better. It seems likehope is lost... until Gerda the kindly bear finds him. She explains that he must fill the hole with hismemories of Hertle.And slowly...Bertle begins to feel a little bit better. A beautiful, gentle, rhyming exploration of grief and mourning." - Joe Coelho, Waterstones Children's Laureate A beautiful, gentle, rhyming exploration of grief and mourning.”– Joe Coelho, Waterstones Children’s Laureate

Our grief worksheets for kids offer a series of engaging and therapeutic activities. From drawing exercises to writing prompts, these worksheets provide a safe space for children to explore their emotions and share their thoughts about loss. At the end of the book Bertle went home with his memories hand in hand. What do you think that means? Acceptance– when Gerda helps him with his memories of Hertle and those memories help him fill the hole and he can take those memories with him. Activities you could use after reading the book This is the Thoughts Feelings Sensations Actions resource. It explores lots of different emotions. Children can see the connection their thoughts have with their feelings,… Gerda tells Bertle that life isn’t always happy. What did she say that makes things not happy? What can happen to a person or pet that we love?The hole was a reminder for Bertle that his friend wasn’t there any more. Did anything remind you of the person or pet that had gone? What was it? Remember, it’s okay to seek help, and it’s certainly okay to grieve. We’re here to help every step of the way. Grief is a complex emotion, especially for children. To help guide them through the challenging process of loss, we at KiddyCharts are proud to introduce our new grief worksheets for kids, these are free, and also a companion to our free Shelf Care book club for kids as well. Don’t forget to sign up to that to get the free eBooks every month as well as these new worksheets for kids monthly too. Did you feel despair when your person or pet disappeared? What did you do? Is it good to cry? Do you think letting out your feelings is good? Do you feel better after a good cry? A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.

Knowing what these stages are and how the pupil is experiencing them will give a better understanding of themselves and their unique experience. It will hopefully help them meet their own needs during the grieving process. Also knowing that they feel the emotions that they are feeling will normalize them and help them understand that it is ok. They are normal and there is hope, acceptance and healing for the future. Powerful and moving text from children’s author and poet John Dougherty is paired perfectly with warm illustrations from the wonderfully talented Thomas Docherty in a thoughtful and sensitive approach to this difficult topic. Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on. Automatic negative thoughts are those awful little thoughts that pop into your mind. They bug you and they are always negative. It is hard to…The Hare-Shaped Hole is a poignant and touching picture book exploring death and grief, as Bertle the turtle learns to cope with the loss of his best friend Hertle the hare. He worked as a primary school teacher in London during the 1990s and early 2000s, and during this period began to write stories for children. His first book was published in 2004 and he left teaching the same year to concentrate on his writing career. It seems like hope is lost… until Gerda the kindly bear finds him. She explains that he must fill the hole with his memories of Hertle. And slowly… Bertle begins to feel a little bit better.