When a little girl and her dad leave Mum in the hospital, they don't expect it to be the last time they see her. Sadly, she passes away soon after.
After the funeral, a dark shadow seems to develop around the little girl, making her feel distant from other people. Even though her friends and everyone at school is really nice to her, it's still difficult to get through the day without Mum.
When she and Dad are sorting out Mum's things, the little girl finds a red jumper that Mum loved. When she wears it, it smells of Mum - over time, it loses Mum's smell, but it doesn't matter. Perhaps grief never really goes away, but, like the jumper, you grow into it.
Jayde Perkin's sensitive and thoughtful picture book chronicling the way grief feels, and the death of a parent for a young child, is very well handled. Neither overly sentimental nor mawkish, it's a calm and touching portrayal of the ways we can remember the ones we've lost, and a reminder that time is the greatest healer.
