Luna's Red Hat

When posed with the task of writing a review of a sad book, I could not think of a sadder book to share than Luna’s Red Hat. The extended title – An Illustrated Storybook to Help Children Cope with Loss and Suicide, immediately caught my attention. The story is beautifully told from the view point of young Luna on the one year anniversary of her mother’s death. Luna’s father allows her to express her feelings while explaining her mother’s death was not her fault, nor was it her mother’s fault. Only one phrase alludes to the possibility of Luna’s mother taking her own life, “Normally Mums don’t stop living when they want to and you have every right to be angry” (page 18 of the eBook provided by Jessica Kingsley Publishers, February 26, 2015). I believe if the title did not have the word suicide in it, the sentence would simply be a child’s view of loss through death. Emmi Smid accurately portrays the child’s mood throughout with a mixture of bold and muted colors. The roll and flow of the text across the page helps to demonstrate the ups and downs of Luna’s emotion. A guide for parents follows the story with information from bereavement specialist Dr. Riet Feiddleaers-Jaspers. It includes how children understand death, how to inform children of a person’s death, and possible questions to expect in the days following a parent’s death. What could be sadder than to know there is a niche this book fills? Thankfully this book is now available to those who need to share it with children who are having to face such a difficult time in their young life.

Luna's Red Hat is a lovely, albeit painful, story about a mother's suicide. While this book may only be relevant to a certain number of children's lives in its entirety, the beautiful art and palpable emotions will make it speak to many children who have experienced many types of loss. This one will stick with me for quite a while.

Including a guide for parents about how to talk to children about suicide, this is a very good book to use when talking to children who have lost someone they love to suicide. On the one year anniversary of her mother's death, Luna and her dad and sibling go on a picnic, but Luna is angry and sad and as she discusses her feelings about her mother's death with her dad, she is able to remember the good times they had together and feel less sad. I received this book free to review from Netgalley and I highly recommend it.