The Grief Jar
The story begins with Bear sitting in a room alone with a big heavy jar filled with feelings that he can’t move by himself. His friends want him to come out and play but they can see that he’s sad and don’t know what to do. Each animal friend comes in to see if they can help, and one by one ask him about his Daddy. As Bear shares stories about his Daddy, he begins to feel he may be able to lift the jar if he can get a little help from his friends. They begin to assist him in carrying his jar, coming up with practical ways to make it easier to carry whilst sharing memories of his Daddy.
The Grief Jar is a 32 page picture book aimed at 3 – 8 years olds (although can be appreciated by children and adults alike) that I felt compelled to write and illustrate after I lost my Dad in June 2020. The circumstances surrounding his passing were such that my family were unable to grieve in the standard way because of the pandemic and limitations on funerals and gatherings. This compounded an already quite isolating period where I was desperately seeking opportunities to talk about him, and discovering that when I found someone to listen, my grief felt that bit lighter and easier to manage.
The story aims to show that grief is a weight that people carry around with them, and they cannot simply put it down, but family and friends can find ways of helping them carry that grief and make them feel less alone. Grief can mean tears and sadness, but grief can also mean sharing joyful memories of the person we’ve lost.
On the 25th August 2022 we successfully raised £5600 to bring The Grief Jar to print and as of the 15th September we have received the funds to get the book printed. Work on the book’s printing and publishing is now finished and we are now fulfilling orders!
Colouring Competitions
The colouring competition will finish at the end of February 2023 and I will be giving away £50 in colouring supplies. Just post your finished colouring page onto either Instagram or Facebook using the hashtag #thegriefjar and tagging myself @bearandgoosedesigns on Instagram or @bearandgoose on Facebook so I can see your entries! In the mean time you can download the colouring pages for free below or order a copy of the book and they come free! For updates on the colouring competition please see my Instagram and Facebook pages. Be as creative as you like, and feel free to add as much colour as you can, we love rainbows!!