Kristy Boike reaches people suffering through grief and loss with her new book, Rise Up, Little Bluebirds. After the loss of her mother, she and her father began to cherish ways to remember her. Boike’s mother loved birds and bird houses, and soon that notion became a way for Boike and her father to connect with others.
Boike’s love and remembrance of her mother started to find it’s way through writing. She says writing was a way for her to cope and grieve in a way that honored her mother, and she soon realized other people could benefit from her words, too. With the integration of her mother’s love for birds, she came up with the title and theme that took form in her mother’s passion.
Though it is a children’s book, Boike says it’s truly for anyone. Boike says she wants to normalize the grieving process, so families can lift one another up through the healing stages while honoring their loved ones. Emotions are hard, complicated and painful when loss is entangled in families, but Boike hopes her book can give the opportunity for families to open the discussion on these tough emotions.
