When the World Stopped Making Sense: A Story and Companion for Children Living with Grief

When the World Stopped Making Sense

A Story and Guide for Children Living with Grief

When someone we love dies, the world doesn’t stop — but for a child, it can feel as though nothing makes sense anymore.

When the World Stopped Making Sense begins with a gentle, story-led exploration of loss through Emma, a young girl navigating life after the death of her Nan. As Emma moves through school, home, and the familiar comfort of her pony, Emily, her feelings shift and collide — sadness, anger, guilt, calm, confusion — often changing from one moment to the next.

The second half of the book becomes a compassionate companion for children aged 10–14, helping them understand grief not as a series of stages to complete, but as a non-linear experience that comes and goes in its own time. Written with deep respect for children’s emotional worlds, the book reassures readers that their reactions are normal, meaningful, and allowed.

This book explores:

• why grief can feel confusing, unpredictable, and overwhelming

• why anger, guilt, withdrawal, and sudden calm are normal responses to loss

• how animals, nature, routine, and quiet presence can support healing

• how love continues, even as life slowly begins to move forward

This is not a book about “moving on” or fixing grief.

It is a book about understanding it — and about reassuring children that everything they feel belongs.

Suitable for independent reading or shared reading, When the World Stopped Making Sense is written for children experiencing bereavement, and for the parents, teachers, and carers who walk alongside them.
Book 13 in the Emily series.