Customer Reviews

Water Bugs and Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Children

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

We lost our mom and grandma very tragically in a car accident two months ago. I had to explain to my 5 and 2 year old girls what had happened and why we wouldn't be able to see grandma anymore. My five year old was very close to her grandma and she grieved...in her prayers at night she started to ask the angels to bring her grandma back. After reading her this book she realized that her grandma would love to come back to her but she couldn't. When I read this book for the first time myself before reading it to my daughters it was the first time I could really grieve because I knew that this book would help my daughter understand. The simplicity of the events and the sense of comfort that a person feels while reading makes this the best book to have when tragedy strikes.

After having lost our son Adam in a drowning accident, I wanted a book to read to our children, ages 9 and 13 so that they could understand the concept of death. The book not only helped them but also helped my husband and I in our mourning. I recommend this book highly to anyone in the position of explaining or experiencing the loss of a loved one.

Someone who works at our hospital gave this book to us when we had a stillborn daughter. It is an excellent and sweet story, and my three other children really loved it. I send it to everyone I know who loses someone close to them, whether they have children or not.

I first heard this story in a chat room on AOL. It was told as an old Native American legend, but I later discovered the story was actually from a book. I was surprised when I located the book that it was actually meant to be a tool to explain death to young children. I thought it was a good story even without mentioning death. I can see how it would relate though. Great book either way. :)

After a family member was suddenly taken from us at a young age, I borrowed this book from a friend, to help my children aged 5 and 2. I did have to simplify the wording for my young son (2) but he easily grasped the concept. Perhaps children who live in the city and have no idea what a water bug or dragonfly are, would have a little more trouble and parents simply need to explain a bit more about them, so children understand. What my little ones found to be the most powerful message was the answer to the question, "If auntie has a new body now, in heaven, why can't she come back and see us....and why can't we go see her?" My children were much less worried about their aunt after hearing about the water bugs and dragonflies. In fact not more than a week after their aunt passed away, we were walking along the lake busy going throught it's spring thaw,and saw water bugs. Now they are anxiously awaiting the dragonflies....and each new spring will provide happy memories of their auntie.

a little too deep for my three year old daughter. I was looking for a better explanation than the vague one I had been using and don't feel this book explained the concept any better.

After the death of my baby girl, the kids didn't understand why God had taken her away after only 4 days. I couldn't explain it to them. I myself was having a hard time dealing with it. After our minister had given me this book it made it easier to explain to the kids that we could not know everthing that God has instore for us. Because just as a waterbug matures and becomes a dragonfly they can't return to tell what it is like in the next place they go. This is not only good for kids it is good for grownups too.

I first heard the story of the little waterbug in 1989 at a funeral for a young child. Her classmates and the entire congregation were consoled by this story, and I have looked for it since then in print. I have small children now, and wanted to have this book on hand for when unexpected tradegy happens without a chance to prepare a little one for the departure of a loved one. Children are so innocent and simple--this story preserves hope in the great and frightening mystery of the death of a loved one.

This book shares how transformation from death into life can be grasped, as no other book I have read, through nature and animals. This book should be on the bookshelves of anyone facing loss and transition. It will help one to cope and possibly begin to heal our experiences of death.

I also recommend: What the Dying Teach Us: Lessons on Living by Samuel Oliver

We read this book before and after telling our 3 year old daughter that someone in our family had died. Then we added our own religious interpretation that our loved one is now in Heaven with God, and we can't see her, but we can remember her, just like waterbugs and dragonflies. I'd recommend having this on hand to help the first time someone your child knows passes on. It is a beautiful and simple metaphor which would be appropriate for agnostics as well as most religious beliefs.