CLAIRE St Louis Little should have felt elation when she landed an important job illustrating a children's book when she was fresh out of art school.

Instead, the 32-year-old felt emotionally drained. Not only was she tired because of the amount of work she put into it but because the book was so sad.

It was written to help children cope with a death in the family, using simple words and moving pictures.

Claire's dog had to be put to sleep half way through the project and she also lost a friend to cancer. She drew on her own sadness and incorporated it into the pictures.

Claire, who lives in Wolvercote, was delighted when she was asked to illustrate The Goodbye Boat (£8.99, Lion Publishing) but admits she found the task hard.

"Dying is not something you think about every day and most people see themselves as mere mortals. I hope this book opens up discussion because people don't really talk very much about death, especially to children, because people just assume they are dealing with things.

"It has to be cathartic and I hope people will like the pictures," said Claire, who is single.

Claire learnt her skills while studying at Oxfordshire School of Art and Design, in Banbury, and then studied illustration at Falmouth College of Arts in Cornwall. The author, Mary Joslin, felt the need to find a way to talk with her children about saying goodbye forever after her children's much-loved grandfather died.

The Goodbye Boat which was published in Oxford by Lion Publishing, based in Sandy Lane West, contains emotional drawings of children playing with their grandmother.

Eventually, the grandmother passes away, which is depicted by her sailing away on a boat.

Claire's own experience of death came when she worked for the BBC as production secretary in the drama and films department. Her boss Innes Lloyd, died from cancer while she was working there.

"I had adopted Innes as a father figure, so it was terribly sad when he died," she said.

"The grandmother's death is left open. It could have been old age or cancer. It's the sadness that has to come across that is important."

A project to help children cope when loved ones die is being set up in the county.

The Bereaved Children's Project (Oxfordshire) will offer training for staff from education, health, social services and groups caring for children.

Parents and children will be able to access the service for support and advice once it has sufficient funding to be up and running.

If you would like to support this project, you can write to The Bereaved Children's Project, c/o Sir Michael Sobell House, Churchill Hospital, Old Road, Headington, Oxford, OX3 7LJ. Mum and daughter read story together ANDRENA Brightman knows just how important it is to explain the death of a loved one to a child.

Her son, Jamie, five, died of a brain tumour two years ago.

Her eight-year-old daughter Aimee-Leigh still gets sad and lonely, so we sent Andrena, who lives in Headington, The Goodbye Boat to read to her.

"Everyone has their own way of dealing with death. I went through the words with Aimee but I think it was nicer to look at the pictures. There should be more books that show children die and go to heaven and not just old people though.

"The day Jamie died, Aimee was out playing so we dressed him in his school uniform so Aimee wouldn't feel too shocked. We explained Jamie's spirit had gone to heaven and that it was just his shell lying on the bed.

"Aimee found the book sad. It's open for discussion so I don't think you should just leave the child alone with the book - you should be there to talk them through it and cuddle them while you read it together."

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