Story

Ella’s Fish Tank (original title: De visjes van Océane) addresses the concept of suicide and makes this issue a subject of discussion with small children. Ella knows all of the fish in her granddad’s aquarium. She notices that one of the fish is acting strangely. One day, he jumps out of the water. Luckily, Ella’s grandfather finds the fish in time to rescue it. However, when the same thing happens again later on, the fish is beyond saving. With the help of her granddad, Ella tries to come to terms with what has happened.

In order to allow children to express, explore and cope with the emotions they feel in difficult situations, the last few pages of the book offer ideas for games, small art projects and philosophical thought exercises. All of these have been tested on small children and promote enriching exchanges between children and the people raising or teaching them. The focus is always on the child’s emotional well-being. The outlined activities are applicable both in a family and a classroom environment.
The book appeared in 2011 in Dutch (with Averbode publishers) and is currently being distributed in the Netherlands and Belgium.

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