New children’s story offers comfort to grieving children
Lisa Laroche Oliver, M.Ed., announces publication of ‘Becoming an Angel’
HAMPSTEAD, N.H. — “Becoming An Angel: What Happens When Someone You Love Dies (With Activity Pages)” (published by Balboa Press) explains “the change that occurs when a loved one transforms into an angel.” The author, Lisa Laroche Oliver, who has been an elementary school counselor since 1990, uses the analogy of a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly to demonstrate the concept, and whimsical illustrations by Daniel Majan help the story come to life on the pages.
In the story, Marcie Weatherbee is a little girl whose grandmother has just died. Mrs. Darby, her neighbor, explains what happens after someone dies to comfort Marcie. She tells Marcie that people transform into angels similarly to the way that caterpillars transform into butterflies. Marcie feels relieved to know that her grandmother still exists – just in the form of an angel – and that she will continue to stay with her and guide her throughout her life.
“I found that when I read stories about grief and loss to my young students I wished I had activity pages that accompanied the story so that I could follow up in future sessions because you don’t process grief in just one sitting.” said Oliver. So she created activity pages that went along with the story that allow a child to make a personal connection to each part of the story. Children can either write or draw about their feelings and experiences. This engagement can aid children in expressing their emotions and processing them with a parent or counselor over the course of time.
Oliver hopes that readers take away that “their loved ones never really leave them, they just change forms and become angels. And having your own personal Guardian Angel is, after all, a pretty amazing thing.”
“Becoming An Angel”
By Lisa Laroche Oliver, M.Ed.
Softcover | 8.5 x 8.5 in | 44 pages | ISBN 9781504378291
E-Book | 44 pages | ISBN 9781504378307
Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble
About the Author
Lisa Laroche Oliver, M.Ed., has been an elementary school counselor for over 25 years. She has a Bachelor of Arts in psychology and a Master of Education in counseling. She is currently a school counselor at Pelham Elementary School in New Hampshire. She is passionate about helping rescue animals find loving forever homes and encouraging people to spay and neuter their pets. Oliver lives in southern New Hampshire.
Balboa Press, a division of Hay House, Inc. – a leading provider in publishing products that specialize in self-help and the mind, body, and spirit genres. Through an alliance with indie book publishing leader Author Solutions, LLC, authors benefit from the leadership of Hay House Publishing and the speed-to-market advantages of the self-publishing model. For more information, visit balboapress.com. To start publishing your book with Balboa Press, call 877-407-4847 today. For the latest, follow @balboapress on Twitter.