Overview

A 13-year-old girl whose dog has just died is encouraged by her father to write in a journal to work through her grief. This fictional book is her journal and includes her pencil drawings. The book is intended to demonstrate to young people (of all ages) how to help process their grief through journaling.

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9780977092888

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Reviews

Thank you, Annie Hisle for Remembering Smiles, a lovely book about love and loss--and finding. Its message is universal even though it is told from the unique perspective of a hearing-impaired child, Penny. Annie's perspective is to encourage a child to use journaling to combat grief and the accompanying loneliness which so often attaches to a wounded heart at such times. Creativity (in this instance through writing) is always an antidote for life's sad times, and I hope that many children, and their parents, will pick up their pens...and write their hearts out...as a result of SMILES. --Bonnie Fogel, Founder and Executive Director, Imagination Stage, Bethesda, Md. This is a thoughtful, warm and inviting look at grief through the eyes of 12-13-year-old Penelope. Having been encouraged to keep a journal, she shares the daily details of a child's life in relation to the loss of her beloved dog, Smiles. In a series of journal entries, we follow her experiences and feelings as she remembers both happy and sad moments, shares openly with friends, gets frustrated by her older brother, asks big questions and embraces new opportunities. Annie Hisle's gift is to evoke the richly textured meaning of a loss as seen through the eyes of a child, and to remind us that healthy grieving can take many forms in our lives. --Kip Ingrim, Director or Bereavement, Montgomery Hospice Society Wow, Ann Hisle has totally captured the emotions and stages of grief of a young girl. The journal entries reflect Penny's devotion, love and attachment to her dog. The text and situations portrayed in the book are certainly realistic and believable. Pen's thoughts/musings, her relationship with her parents, counselor and peers really hit the mark and ring true. Additionally, Ann has shown the gradual movements of grieving and the importance of valuing positive and negative memories. I appreciate the variety of emotions revealed and the beautiful mutuality exhibited in Penny's and Smile's relationship. Giving several examples of positively channel-ing grief is not only helpful for bereaved dog-lovers but for anyone facing loss. This is a unique and simply wonderful book for anyone--we all experience loss. --Susan Karpel Gebhardt, Ed.M., Counseling. MCPS Student Services Specialist and Counselor Thank you so much for writing this beautiful book. It was clearly written from the heart and it easily found its way into my own. At the end, I was cheering for Pen as she was finally able to move forward from Smiles' death, no longer only mourning what she lost, but realizing all she had gained by having Smiles as part of her life for ten years, and finding comfort in accepting that she could take the spirit of that companionship with her for the rest of her life.None of us can escape loss and heartache, but, as young readers will learn from Pen; we can find a way to move ON without moving AWAY from the love and joy and support important people and four-legged friends have gifted to us. And the story doesn't patronize children by depicting parents who expect their child will just get over this tender loss. Pen's parents acknowledge her grief and gently guide her through it. --Kerry Cadden, Director of Administration, Flicker of Hope Foundation, Virginia.

Author Information

Ann Hisle, is a practicing psychotherapist in the Washington, DC metro area and a retired bereavement counselor from the Montgomery Hospice Society. Through her 35 years of practice, she has come to believe that both losing and finding are fundamental to life and need one another. Her experience has shown her that grieving well entails holding one's feelings of loneliness and a-deep-missing on the one hand and one's feelings of appreciation for cherished memories and new possibilities on the other. Ann unfortunately never had a dog growing up and over the years has grown to love and respect the great gift they are to us, humans. She has been married to her husband John for over fifty years and all four of their children and their families have cherished dogs. Gigi Wang is a Senior, Bullis High School, in Potomac, MD. She says about the work of illustrating the book: It was a great pleasure to participate in producing this wonderful journal. In the process of drawing sketches under the narrator's name, I recognized that Penny and I have shared similar experience and struggles growing up as a teenager. Living in a small apartment in China, I do not have the privilege of owning a dog in the limited space. I remembered begging my parents so many times until they finally compromised. The next day, I received two rabbits, which was far from what I expected but still made me happy for weeks. However, due to the lack of experience, my rabbits were seriously ill in a cold winter day, and it did not take long for me to lose both of them. That night, I laid in bed and cried for hours until I fell asleep. I also began to write their names on the wall every day when I was taking shower, forcing myself to remember their existence. That was a rough time for me, and I wish I had a chance to read this journal earlier in my saddest moments. In short, I hope this journal can help people who have been in the same situation as I was before.

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