Maddie's Wings: A Lesson in Love by Tamera Rickman- A Review

Maddie's Wings: A Lesson in Love by Tamera Rickman and illustrated by Steve McGinnis

The book Maddie's Wings: A Lesson in Love is the tenderhearted story of an adorable dachshund named Maddie and her journey through life. The book is dedicated to the author's real life dog, Maddie, and it is told from the heart in a way only a mommy to a sweet little dog can tell a story. While I really liked the story, my daughter loved and connected with this book in a way that I rarely see her connect with a book. She was in tears by the end when the sweet little Maddie dies, having finally "loved enough" and "earned her wings."


For any parent that has struggled with how to communicate to their child what has happened when a pet dies, this is the perfect book to help ease the pain. In fact, I am finding that even writing a blog post about talking to my child about the death of an animal in a book is tough. The author skillfully uses the analogy of receiving butterfly wings for death. This simple analogy provides the reader with warmth and comfort without becoming mired in any complicated specifics about death.

The author also never directly refers to any specific religious belief about death. I think this is fantastic for families with blended religious and/or cultural beliefs about death that struggle with comforting the youngest of grievers.

I could go on and detail how this book is a superb way to help comfort a child trying to cope with the loss of a pet; however, I would rather share the letter my six year old daughter wrote after reading the book to the author and illustrator. (I left her letter unedited, in its true form, only editing her name.)

Dear Tamera Rickman and Steve McGinnis,
My name is Miss M. I liked Maddie’s Wings because it has a lot of details and the pictures were beautiful to. I liked the way you drew Maddie and the butterflies. I like the front cover because I liked Maddie with the butterfly on her nose  and especially love any kind of dog!
I liked Maddie’s Wings a lot! Our dog Drew died a couple years ago, so we got a new dog. When the dog Maddie died, it reminded me of our dog Drew when she died. Thinking of her as a butterfly made me feel better.

Love, Me 

To purchase the book, please check out it out from Amazon- http://www.amazon.com/Maddies-Wings-A-Lesson-Love-ebook/dp/B00CNWCHW2.

* I was given this book free-of-charge by the author in exchange for my honest opinion. All opinions expressed are my own.