PREECEVILLE - Carla Mitchell (Karcha), originally of the Lady Lake area, has always had a passion for writing. When she became a registered social worker and end of life doula, it gave her the inspiration and encouragement to write and publish her own books and create her own publishing company.
Puddle Jumper Publishing is a collection of children’s bereavement storybooks to help explain death and feelings of grief to young children. The first story I Am Here For You! A Story To Support Your Grieving Child Through Death From Suicide was published in September 2021.
As a social worker, Mitchell specializes in providing bereavement support services, resource navigation and children's grief programming. The books were inspired by her clinical practice and personal experience of supporting her own grieving children. “All children are capable of grieving and benefit from having supportive adults that can help them understand death and grief. The best way to do this is through providing the child with honest, concrete and real information they can understand.” said Mitchell.
Puddle Jumper Publishing’s books will help caring adults support grieving children. Talking about death with children can be a challenge, these stories will provide readers with a framework for discussing death in a direct, concrete and supportive way. “I firmly believe it is important to remember that children do grieve too, however, differently than adults and it is important we talk to them.” she stated.
Each story is carefully crafted to explain how the death occurred in child-friendly terms and help the child understand feelings of grief. At the end of each story, there is a place for the child to capture their favorite memories and pictures. Puddle Jumper Publishing strives to help caring adults understand and support children's grief. The stories contain reader's tips, conversational prompts and suggestions to support a grieving child. Each story addresses the five most common informational needs of grieving children (known as the 5Cs):
1. They did not cause the illness/death,
2. They will not catch it,
3. They cannot cure it,
4. They will still be cared for, and
5. They will stay connected to the person who died.
Each story in the Puddle Jumper Publishing Collection is available in three pronoun options to discuss the person who died: He/His, She/Her and They/Them. The stories are created for children 4 to 12 years old. In the future, additional stories coming to the Puddle Jumper Publishing Collection will cover topics such as: death from substance abuse, death from natural causes, death from cancer and more. Anyone interested in the stories is encouraged to visit or follow Puddle Jumper Publishing on Facebook or Instagram.
