The simplest of pictures and text give us a gentle way of explaining how one feels inside when someone they love dies. Aimed at young children, but also at people of all ages who suffer from PMLD - profound and multiple learning disabilities, it shows serious sadness and grief, but also helps us to work through that grief by talking to friends about the person who has died. It begins: 'Brown mouse feels sad. Brown mouse is crying. Brown Mouse wants to be alone.' The child-like black line drawing on the opposite page shows us that the little mouse is in bed. As her friends come one by one to offer their gifts and their comfort, Brown mouse refuses all help. When she finally falls asleep, she sleeps through the day, and when she wakes, she gets up and goes into the kitchen where her friends are assembled and are talking about Grey mouse, the friend who has died. Together, they drink tea and reminisce about her - about how kind she was, about her big hugs, her good cooking, her 'cardigan with tiny buttons', the fact that she 'got grumpy when the house was messy' - all the good memories as well as the not so good. Then Brown mouse begins to wonder where Grey mouse is now, sliding down a rainbow, or floating on a cloud perhaps. 'I think she is happy,' she says, and they smile. Together they go out into the 'new day' to feed the birds as Grey mouse would have done. So simple and yet so completely effective, this story could well have a profound affect on those in need of it, and children may well want to colour-in the black and white illustrations. Available from Amazon, from book shops, and from the publisher: www.jkp.com.