The End of Something Wonderful: A Practical Guide to a Backyard Funeral

With gentle humor and quirkiness, this sympathetic book demonstrates how to say goodbye to a beloved pet and give it a proper sendoff.

The End of Something Wonderful helps kids handle their feelings when they're hurting and can't find all the right words. In a warm, understanding, sometimes funny way, it guides children as they plan a backyard funeral to say goodbye, from choosing a box and a burial spot to giving a eulogy and wiping away tears. 

"Crazy, wonderful." —Paula Poundstone, comedienne

“It is, in fact, the BEST dead pet book I’ve ever read. It’s funny and urbane and a little bit heartfelt as well..” —Betsy Bird, School Library Journal
 
"[T]his picture book offers earnest advice to kids needing to say goodbye to a beloved pet, using language that is sympathetic but not euphemistic. . . . This frank but tender guide offers consolation and hope to children as they cope with loss and move forward to bright, new (Wonderful) things." —Booklist starred review

"A sensitive yet refreshingly frank and good-humored resource for children mourning the loss of a pet." —Publisher's Weekly

“Would have been very helpful when I was a kid. . . . [a] unique picture book.” —Mr. Schu, Ambassador of School Libraries for Scholastic

More Press for The End of Something Wonderful

Picture Book
September 2019
Union Square Children's Books
Book and cover design by Irene Vandervoort