A beautifully written and illustrated story designed to assist a grieving child. The plot centers around a girl who experiences the death of her cat and wishes that the effects could be reversed. She was instructed by Stillwater, her wise friend, to assemble the right ingredients needed to assist her. She then walked around her neighborhood and asked for a cup of sugar from any house whose occupants have been immune from grieving a death. Further and further into the day, she realizes that there wasn’t one house that hadn’t experienced the loss of someone they love.

This is a compassionate story intended to explain and soften the feeling of loss and grief. It is based upon the Buddhist legend called “The Mustard Seed”, from a collection of sayings called the Dhammapada (first century BCE). A woman who loses her infant to death is instructed by Buddha to search for a household and receive a mustardseed from anyone not touched by death. This leads to her acceptance of death and the normalcy of this aspect of life.

Beautiful illustrations and lovely emotional expression. Recommended book.