Pepper, Pooch and Little

This is the story of Pepper the hamster, Pooch the puppy and Little the tortoise.  They are friends for life, whether life is long or short.

Talking to children about death is not easy.  This picture book for 4+ year olds offers a gentle introduction to life and death and the importance of the memories that link them, opening a door on a difficult subject.

“The journey that led to writing Pepper, Pooch

and Little started many years ago. The Head of my children’s Infant School invited parents whose jobs it was to help others (like nurses, firefighters, police, paramedics) to come in and talk about they did.

My job was to support families when a baby had died. At the end of my talk, I asked if any of the children knew of any animal or person who had died and over 90 hands went up, each child wanting to tell me more.

Years later I was working with a group of bereaved children at a hospice and wrote Pepper, Pooch and Little to read to them on the day that a hamster,

a dog and a tortoise came to visit…”