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A mother-of-two has written a story to help children deal with personal tragedies and grief.

Jess Childs, from Caerphilly, wrote the story having dealt with her own personal tragedies. In 2006, her father took his own life, while her mother died after a five-year battle with cancer in November last year.

The illustrated book, called ‘Ivy and the Rock‘, was released on January 28.

The idea for the story came from a poem Jess wrote and recited at her father’s funeral.

Ivy and the Rock will be the first in a series of books tackling “big issues for little people”, such as depression, self-esteem and more.

After her father’s death, Jess was “forced on a tough but important journey, which over time led to acceptance, understanding, and ultimately personal growth”.

Jess, whose daughters are aged three and five, said: “More recently we had to say goodbye to our beloved mum, but this time I find myself with the added challenge of supporting my two young girls to process this huge loss as well.

“Add to this the fact that we are living in a pandemic with a tragic death toll, overwhelming media coverage and a barrage of public health messages, you can’t help but worry about the effect it is having on anxiety among children.”

She added: “Although the book was developed before the pandemic, to my mind there has never been a greater need for age-appropriate explanations of love and the acceptance of loss in our lives.”

“Through her adventure in the Wildest Wood, Ivy does just that. It’s a thought-provoking but uplifting tale of adventure and self-discovery, created to help our tiniest minds make sense of life’s greatest inevitability.”

Ivy and the Rock was published by London-based Olympia Publishers on January 28.

Information on how to buy the book, as well as a range of free resources for children, can be found online at bigissuesforlittlepeople.co.uk