Lily Hates Goodbyes

Lily Hates Goodbyes by Jerilyn Marler

(Summary taken from the back book cover) "Lily's Daddy is in the military. Sometimes she has to say goodbye to him for about a billion days. She feels a swirl of unhappy emotions that can be scary. And she aches to feel connected to her Daddy. Join Lily as she learns how to cope with her emotions and to be happy in her daily life while she looks forward to joyfully saying hello when Daddy gets home. See the last page for the author's suggestions to help your child get the most value from this book!"

The story of this book is so sweet. Ms. Marler's granddaughter was having a very hard time dealing with her emotions while her Daddy was away with the Navy. Her mom and grandmother tried everything to help her cope, but nothing worked, until this story. This story gave Lily a "third person" with which to talk about feelings. Ms. Marler says, "Book Lily was mad. Book Lily was sad. Suddenly it wasn't so scary for Real Lily to talk about those feelings."

What a wonderful reason to create a story! And think how many military children will benefit from reading this book, and talking about it, as Ms. Marler did with her granddaughter. I think it is a beautiful story that will help children all over the world. It is useful to help children who have daddies that travel a lot, even if they travel for work. It could also be used to help children whose mommies are in the military or travel a lot. The characters are believable and there are many feelings discussed and ways to deal with those feelings. Thank you, Ms. Marler, for giving hope and help to famililes across the country. I have a neighbor whose husband is away with the military right now, so I am taking this book over to her this afternoon. I definitely recommend this book for any family who deals with parents being gone for long peiods of time.

Rating: G (Clean!)

Recommendation: Great for all ages!! And very helpful for those kids who need a way to cope with difficult feelings.