08/14/2026
“One Wave at a Time” by Holly Thompson is a wonderful book about parent loss. In the book, a young boy’s father dies and we see how the death affects not just him, but also his mother and younger brother.
Thompson describes the feelings as waves; of sadness, of anger, of fear and even of happiness. She does an excellent job of describing these waves and the illustrations by Ashley Crowley really bring the feelings to life.
At the beginning of the story, Kai talks about the places where his father USED to be, like at the dinner table, on the sidelines of his soccer games or waiting with him for the school bus and Crowley shows those places with a vague shadow within the picture, to represent the father. A very subtle part of the picture, in fact I didn’t even notice it the first time I read the book!
The family goes to a support group where they can meet other families travelling the same journey and this helps the family start their healing.
It is a beautiful book and describes the different ways that grief can show up simply, sensitively and honestly.
Ashley Crowley
