Death of a pet

Saying goodbye to Lulu

by Corinne Demas

This is a heart-wrenching story about a little girl's love for her dog, Lulu who she has grown up with and been best friends with all her life.  The girl in the story describes how Lulu is now becoming old and needs help to do a lot of things because her health and eyesight are failing.  The story shows the tenderness that the young girl shows towards her darling Lulu during her last days and when the inevitable happens, the family buries Lulu in their garden, planting a cherry tree on her grave.  The girls parents offer to get her another dog but the girl does not feel ready until a season has passed and the cherry tree has blossomed. Grieving, remembering, the special bonds that exist between humans and their pets and learning to love again are all themes that are addressed in this story.

Citation:

Demas, Corinne & Hoyt, Ard. Saying goodbye to Lulu, Boston : Little, Brown, 2004.

Community Rating:

32 reader ratings with an average score of 4.19 out of 5 stars (courtesy of www.GoodReads.com)

Awards:

(1) Booklist Editors' Choice - Books for Youth - Young Readers Category: 2004

(2) Henry Bergh Children's Book Award: Fiction Companion Animals, 2004