INSIDE: Cori Doerrfeld’s GOODBYE, FRIEND! HELLO, FRIEND! is a fabulous story to help kids recognize that most goodbyes lead to wondrous new beginnings. Check it out!
As adults, it is much easier to recognize that when one door closes, another begins. But even for us it can be tough. Imagine, then, how closing doors feels for a child. Whether it’s leaving one school to start another, moving to a new city, losing a pet, or outgrowing a favorite pair of sparkly silver shoes, goodbyes can be downright tough, and it is often challenging for us as parents to know how to handle them.
Perhaps that is why I fell so hard for GOODBYE, FRIEND! HELLO, FRIEND!, the newest picture book by Cori Doerrfeld, which so beautifully showcases this concept.
Friendship comes with its ups and downs, of course. But one of the hardest parts of finding a best friend is having to say goodbye to that friend. GOODBYE, FRIEND! HELLO, FRIEND! tells the story of two children saying hello and goodbye to various things — goodbye to sitting alone is hello to sitting together, goodbye to snowmen is hello to jumping in puddles, goodbye to the sun is hello to the stars.
The hardest goodbye, though, is when you have to say goodbye to a friend before she moves away. Sensitive, gentle and profound, Doerrfeld conveys to readers that even the most difficult goodbyes open us up to brilliant new hellos — and though it may take time to heal, a new day with many new hellos is always on the horizon.
Goodbyes are never easy, yet GOODBYE, FRIEND! HELLO, FRIEND! helps make transitions just a bit easier for little ones. It’s challenging for a child to understand how the end of one phase makes way for another, yet this charming story makes this ambiguous notion much more tangible. The concrete, relatable sequences help kids understand how one ending is always the beginning of something new, and though endings are tough, the promise of a new chapter can be as exciting as endings are challenging.
I also love the way GOODBYE, FRIEND! HELLO, FRIEND! tackles the concept of letting go. Often times, we are unable to see a rainbow on the horizon until sadness eases it’s tight grip on us. But once we do let go — once we allow ourselves to take a deep breath and lean in to a new day — a ray of possibility will greet us. Sometimes, that small ray is all we need to begin again and take one step, and then another and another, forward.
Cheers to GOODBYE, FRIEND! HELLO, FRIEND! to help parents and educators ease the burden of challenging goodbyes. Two trunks up for this tender book!
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