Alana, a mermaid, is having to come to terms with the fact that her grandmother, whom she loves very much, is coming to the end of her life cycle and will soon die. At first, she is confused and struggles to understand what is going on, confronted by many overwhelming feelings - anger, sadness, even guilt.

Alana’s grandmother supports her through her grief and gives her the space to come to terms with her feelings of loss by remembering and celebrating their time together and focusing on the love that they have for each other. This book aims to support parents and children aged 6 to 11 to process difficult feelings that arise when confronted with the loss of a loved one. Parents and guardians can use the story as a tool to support their child in reflecting on what is going on for them, creating a safe space to talk about feelings.

"No one is immune to experiencing loss at some point in life, and for many, our first experience with loss is that of a beloved grandparent. As a parent, you are suddenly thrown into a unique and complex role of grieving your own loss, along with helping your child cope with this new emotional experience.

Love is a Gift is a beautiful way to open those conversations around the difficult process of grieving the loss of someone we love. With magical and soothing art, coupled with very real conversations around the subject, it will be a gift to the well-being of any child who will inevitably experience loss at some point in their lives."
Born in 1974 and raised in London, Joanna P.A Moore is a BACP qualified and registered therapeutic counsellor since 2007 and runs her own private practice in Fulham. She also has over 18-year experience working in inner-city areas as a youth worker/program manager with young people aged 8 to 21, supporting young people’s development and life skills through informal learning.

Joanna was inspired to write “Love is the Gift” after the death of a very significant and influential person in her life in 2017. Christina was like a second mother to her.

Also living with a rare life-threatening autoimmune condition ‘Addison’s Disease’ since 2009 and having two small children, Joanna felt that there was not enough literature out there to support her own children through the difficult feelings surrounding death. Wanting to create a tool that could help her own children and others, she embarked on creating the beautiful and poetical story about Elana the mermaid.

“I encourage healthy conversation around death and don’t believe that this subject should be just left until the inevitable happens. Death is a part of life and I choose to be part of that discussion with my own children. I want them to be prepared for difficult feelings that they will inevitably need to face one day, and I want them to know that having those feelings is perfectly normal. For me Love is the only true gift in this life, a gift that should be celebrated and shared”