SuitabookThe Hare-Shaped Hole
John Dougherty
- Reading
- Read the rhyme aloud, then revisit the illustrations without rushing. Invite the child to name colours or images that suggest feelings, and make space for silence rather than expecting a tidy explanation of loss.
- Themes
- Grief and remembrance: Bertle searches for Hertle, confronts the absence, expresses several difficult feelings and later recalls shared positive experiences with help from Gerda. Grief is presented as emotionally varied, while memories are shown as a way of carrying a relationship forward; the story does not erase the sadness.
- Friendship across differences: Bertle and Hertle are different animals but support one another and are described as best friends; Bertle’s memories centre on their relationship. The friendship is clearly valued and provides the emotional foundation for the story’s exploration of loss.
- Worth knowing
- Consider reading it with time to pause around Hertle’s disappearance and Bertle’s reactions. If the subject feels close to home, let the child choose whether to discuss personal experiences or simply talk about the pictures.