Amazon Diane Cantrell Diane Cantrell Category:  Children Publisher: Bridgeway ISBN-10:  1933538953 Pages: 32 Copyright: 2008 ISBN-13: 9781933538952 Mrs. B’s class excitedly awaits the birth of three baby chicks, but when the special day arrives, one chick, Max, is too weak to break out of his shell. When even a trip to the veterinarian can’t save Baby Max, Mrs. B must teach her class how to say good-bye to their little friend. Join Mrs. B and her students as they show children what it’s like to lose someone special and how they can cope in this book filled with rhyming verse and rich, colorful illustrations.

SV Swamy
Good-bye, Baby Max is a beautifully written and equally (or more importantly) beautifully illustrated book for children in the suggested age group of 4 to 8 years. For the children in the younger part of this age group, the parents or elder children and other care givers can help in reading and also deal with the emotions that may arise.

The illustrations are beautiful and help to invoke the right feelings.

The book tells children some important things about life: Life is a struggle and everyone doesn't make it. It is OK to cry and mourn those who fail and fall down. But life is about accepting the loss and moving on and seeing the emergence of new life.

The children can be encouraged to read, explore and analyze the emotions that well up.

The book has A Note to Parents and Educators from the author, which puts the story in the right perspective.

Dawn
Goodbye Baby Max is a great tool for parents. I am a high school teacher with a class of teen parents. I use this book as a way to discuss loss with the students, as they themselves may be grieving about lost opportunities and lost dreams as they embark on parenting and adulthood earlier than their peers. The book is also an excellent avenue to teach the students how to use books with their children, not just for reading, but for opening the doors of communication to difficult topics such as loss. The illustrations are dynamic and overall the book is a must have for any library, thus I donated one to our school library.

Jeanne Brown
I bought this book to help my nieces and nephews deal with the loss of a beloved pet. The storyline and illustrations were used as a springboard to discuss their own loss. I highly recommend this book to anyone that has young children and is looking for a way to help them cope with a loss in their lives.