Product Description

Matthew is looking forward to the new baby. He is planning how he will help with looking after his little brother or sister and the games they will play when the baby is older. Then there is sad news. The doctor tells Matthew's parents that the baby is not growing properly inside its mother and will not be able to live after it is born. Written by the author to help her own son cope with the death of their new baby at birth, All Shining in the Spring is a child-centred, simply-written book. It is intended to give a child a clear and sympathetic understanding of the death of a baby, be it a family member or not, and to deal with the feelings and questions which such a death raises. The book can be read to or by a child and would be ideal in a family situation, in schools, for carers, social workers and maternity hospitals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #697808 in Books
• Published on: 1995-03-31
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 63 pages

About the Author
Having grown up in Galway and Donegal, Siobhan Parkinson has lived most of her adult life in her native Dublin. She studied English literature and German at Trinity, and went on to take her doctorate in English literature. She has worked for many years as an editor, a profession that very closely resembles that of writing. She concentrates more on her writing these days, but is also a very active member of the writers-in-schools scheme, and she gives workshops in creative writing and talks on her work in all sorts of situations. She has held various writing residencies and she is currently co-editor of Inis -- The Children's Books Ireland Magazine. Her books have won numerous awards and been translated into lots of languages, her favourites being Latvian, because it is so different, and Japanese, because it is back to front. Apart from reading and writing, she is very fond of eating and sleeping. Her favourite place is bed. Obviously, she is not a cross-channel swimmer. She is a big fan of the Great Indoors, including crackling fires, warm rugs and lots of candles. Her ambition is to be old, so that she can sit in a chair all day and eat chocolate and nobody can expect her to go out to work. Her husband, Roger Bennett, is a woodturner and teacher, and her son Matthew is almost grown up. Being her son didn't do him too much harm, he claims, but time will tell. Her first two books, The Dublin Adventure and The Country Adventure, were aimed at the 6-9 age group and were very well received. Her third book for the same age group was has been described as 'a great comedy romance' and tells the story of two parallel love triangles between twin sisters and a foreigner, set thousands of years apart.

Customer Reviews

I thought it was good, my daughter hates it :(
I bought this to read to my 4 year old daughter a week after I delivered her stillborn sister.

I think it's beautifully written and explains everything in a very simply. Nothing is left out, there is even a description of the white coffin that the baby is placed in and it ends by showing the family having a pic-nic under their baby's tree.

However, my daughter had other ideas, she scowled all the way though it and declared at the end "I don't like that book, the baby dies. I didn't want the baby to die."

I left the book out for a few more days, but she said "Can you put the book away, I don't like it".

I just want parents to know, that although they may buy this book in good faith thinking that they will help their living child understand why their sibling died, the child may not want to hear the story and may end up hating the book as much as my daughter :(

So 5 stars from me a parent and 0 stars from my daughter.

A little boy and his parents coping with death of a sibling
A beautifully written story about the death of a baby, and how the parents must tell their other child who is looking forward to being the babys big brother. A brilliant aid for parents who are unfortunate to be in this postion.