Tear Soup

Tear Soup follows Grandy, an elderly woman who has experienced a significant loss. As she processes her grief, she creates a metaphorical pot of tear soup in her kitchen. The story chronicles Grandy's journey through grief over several months, with the soup-making process serving as an extended metaphor for mourning. Other characters appear throughout, responding to Grandy's grief in their own ways. Each step of making tear soup corresponds to an aspect of the grieving process, from gathering ingredients to allowing the soup to simmer. The illustrations complement the text with muted colors and expressive characters. The book presents grief as a personal, nonlinear journey that takes time and varies from person to person. Through its culinary metaphor, it makes the complex topic of loss accessible to readers of all ages while validating diverse emotional responses to death and loss.

Readers value this book as a grief resource for both children and adults, with many noting it helped them process losses ranging from death to divorce. The illustrations and metaphor of making soup resonate with readers of different ages. Readers highlight: - Clear, accessible way of explaining grief stages - Validation that grief takes time and looks different for everyone - Helpful discussion questions at the back - Works for various types of loss, not just death Common criticisms: - Text can be too complex for young children - Some find the soup metaphor gets stretched too thin - Price point is high for a short book Ratings: Goodreads: 4.34/5 (2,900+ ratings) Amazon: 4.8/5 (3,400+ ratings) Reader quote: "This book gave me permission to grieve at my own pace and helped me explain to others why I wasn't 'over it' yet." -Amazon reviewer

The Invisible String by Patrice Karst A story of the connections that bind people together even after death through the metaphor of an invisible string that connects hearts.

The Memory Box: A Book About Grief by Joanna Rowland A child creates a box of memories to remember a loved one who died and work through the grieving process.

The Fall of Freddie the Leaf by Leo Buscaglia The life cycle of a leaf serves as a metaphor for the natural process of life, death, and loss.

Always Remember by Cece Meng Sea animals remember their friend Old Turtle after his death through the lessons and memories he left behind.

The Heart and the Bottle by Oliver Jeffers A girl puts her heart in a bottle after losing a loved one and must find a way to release it again.

🥄 The authors created this book after experiencing their own significant losses - Pat Schwiebert worked as a grief counselor, and Chuck DeKlyen lost his wife to cancer. 📖 Though written as a children's book, Tear Soup has become widely used by grief counselors, hospice organizations, and support groups for adults dealing with loss. 🎨 The illustrator, Taylor Bills, purposefully used muted, watercolor-style artwork to reflect the gentle, contemplative nature of the grieving process. 🌟 The main character, Grandy, was specifically designed as an older woman to show that wisdom about handling grief often comes from those who have experienced multiple losses in life. 🍲 The soup-making metaphor was chosen because, like grief, soup requires time, patience, careful attention, and different ingredients for different people - there's no single "right" recipe.