This very short book tells the story of a colony of water bugs in a pond. Every now and then one of them climbs the stalk of a water lily, disappears and never comes back. Two water bugs make a pact that the next one who climbs out of the pond will return and tell the others what happens above the pond. When the next water bug climbs up the stalk and leaves the pond, she finds that she is unable to go back into the water as she has transformed into a beautiful dragonfly.
This story is so beautifully written and illustrated that it is soothing to anyone who reads it, adults and children alike. Presenting death as part of a life cycle is a very reassuring way to talk to children about it.
This post first appeared on Lyliane Stewart’s site parentingeastwest.com on December 29, 2013.
Lyliane Stewart is a teacher, a positive discipline parent educator and a mother of two young adults. Originally from Switzerland, she lives with her husband in Beijing where she has been very active with the school community over the years. Her personal experience of living internationally in a cross-cultural family has given her a good understanding of the various challenges encountered by multi-cultural, multi-lingual expatriate families. Passionate about psychology and education, she founded Parenting East West to offer support to families around the world. Lyliane believes that by gaining a better understanding of ourselves, and of human relationships in general, we become better equipped for parenting. She offers weekly interactive parenting classes through which she introduces positive parenting tools and strategies.
The Mums2B group she started meets in Sanlitun weekly and welcomes new expectant parents.To get in touch, send a message to: parentingeastwest@gmail.com
Photo courtesy of Pilgrim Press
