A nursery owner and teacher is hoping her new book on child bereavement will help families in the most heartbreaking of situations.
Julie Robinson is a qualified teacher with more than 25 years’ experience in education and is also the owner of Eagley School House Nurseries.
She became inspired to write the story after meeting a number of children facing life limiting illnesses, including cancer, children with disabilities that affect them long term, and then recently two children with rare genetic diseases that are life limiting.
READ MORE: Bolton: Nursery owner's new book to ease children's anxiety
Julie added: “It’s heart-breaking yet a privilege to be part of their journey.
“From being children, they have shown true strength and courage and it made me feel that we can learn so much from their strength.
“I felt I wanted to give that back to families who need it most, those who have shown true strength in such difficult times.
“Children seem to bring so much, love and acceptance to the situations they face.
“We are truly blessed to have them in our lives albeit sometimes short.”
Her new book is called The Star Who Touched our Hearts.
It is part of a series of mindfulness books that Julie has previously wrote to help support the mental health of pre-schoolers and young children.
Julie has also written an interactive book called Rainforest: Sounds and Moves (Eco Phonics Warriors) to help children with their literacy skills.
Julie added: “What inspired me to write this book was, wanting to make an impact and a difference for those families, and seeing how those children and families struggle to come to terms with what they have to come to terms with.
“And, we all want to have a positive memory and we all want to feel that a child had a purpose, and sometimes we forget that, and it’s hard to feel happy when something really bad is happening in your life.
“But if we try and believe that those children are here for a purpose then sometimes it just makes that grieving a little bit better to deal with.”
The story is about a star, which is the life of the child.
Julie explained that it signifies that we don’t know how long we have but must celebrate the time we have.
She added: “Life can be a test sometimes.
“We must appreciate the good things we have in life and celebrate what we do have.”
The book will be donated to Reubens retreat, but Julie also hopes to donate the book to other hospices too, before it is available on Amazon.
Julie is aiming for November 1 to publish the book with Celia Johnston-Hale who is a children’s author herself, and only recently started Johnston-Hale Publications after illustrating Julie’s previous books.
Read More:
- Bolton: Firefighters rescue German Pointer
- Bolton: Woman walks free from court after death by careless driving case thrown out
- Tyldesley: Man admits to carrying meat cleaver outside St George's Primary School
- Bolton: Fight breaks out at home over family dispute over money
If you have a story and something you would like to highlight in the community, please email me at jasmine.jackson@newsquest.co.uk or DM me on Twitter @JournoJasmine.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here