As part of this year’s Children’s Mental Health Week I want to share with you some wonderful books that have been written to help children with their emotional wellbeing.

Mark Lemon was one of the speakers at a child bereavement conference I attended way back in March 2020 – just before the first national lockdown. This is when I first learned of his work.

He talked about his book, The Magical Wood, which is written to help children through bereavement by explaining death using nature as a guide.

The Magical Wood

It is gorgeously simple with the most adorable illustrations. Such a beautiful story of loss and the hope that ‘new growth’ and happiness can be just around the corner. To find out more, click on the image above.

Why Mark?

When Mark presented, he told his story in an incredibly gentle and matter of fact way, it had everyone hanging on his every word and a number of people rather emotional.

I could relate to a lot of what he talked about with his teen years and on into parenthood. Having lost my brother (in completely different circumstances) at a similar age to Mark, he could almost have been describing my own life and experience. When he finished, I felt full of emotion. I really wanted to approach and have a chat about all he’d talked about but was worried I may just burst into tears on him instead!

By the time I had composed myself, he was deep in conversation and it was almost time for me to leave. I’ve since followed his journey and supported him where I can. Including introducing you to his work.

You can find out more about him on his website: www.lemondropbooks.co.uk/ or by following him on Twitter at twitter.com/lemondropbooks.