Grief and loss are never easy to talk about, more so with children. In fact, death and children feel like opposites. Children are full of life, laughter, energy and hope. Death is silent, dark, still and hopeless.
Can you write a children’s book about death and not make it dark? In the hands of master storyteller Hans Sande, this is possible.
The Red Sweater is the story of two 8-year-olds, Siv and Liv—best friends with many promises between them. When Siv goes missing, Liv goes searching for her on the beach where they had built the sand castle, along the stream where they caught trout with their hands, inside Siv’s room and under her bed. That night Liv dreams of Siv lying peacefully afloat. The next morning she runs to the stream, and into the marsh.