All of us will have to do life without our parents at some point. Alison Garwood-Jones has written and illustrated a picture book for adults to show what the aftermath looks like. Released on May 10, 2024 – in time for Mother’s Day – I Miss My Mommy takes you right to the heart of the five stages of grief through 150 portraits, some grim, some funny, but all relatable. The stage you’re in may change by the hour, or even the minute. This book helps readers struggling with grief sit with emotions they’d rather avoid but can’t stop feeling. Dip inside to find yourself, or someone you love but don’t quite understand. Better still, present the book to someone who’s missing their mom on Mother’s Day. I MISS MY MOMMY is the world’s first picture book for big people without parents. - Book website: https://PenJarProductions.com
I MISS MY MOMMY
150 Portraits of Orphaned Adults
Alison Garwood-Jones
BOOK REVIEW
Readers see the many faces of adult orphan grief in Garwood-Jones’ adult picture book.
The five stages of grief, as conceptualized by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, get an expansive remix, complete with renderings of
subjects in the throes of various distilled moments of coping mechanism flux. In this cleverly conceived book, faithfully
nuanced caricatures, or stagers (a term taken from Shakespearean theater protocol and a play on Kübler-Ross’s stages),
mirror the ways grief manifests in our actions across forty-one chapters with titles that are sometimes familiar (“The Shell
Shocked,” “The Pity Partiers,” “The Addicted”) and other times unexpected (“The Dog Moms,” “The Closeted,” “The
Narcissists”). Over a dozen stand-alone quotes on grief by noted people are interspersed between, as well. An
eggplant-purple color scheme is used purposefully to unify the sweeping range of emotions between disparate poles of
intensity, associated with red, and calm, associated with blue. To “capture how we are coping, moment to moment, year
after year, after a big loss” is the author’s mission statement, and for the most part it is easy to draw a connection between
the coping mechanism attributed to the various stagers. In some chapters, however, the correlation between the subject
as portrayed in the accompanying text and the person’s stage of grief is tenuous. A chapter entitled “The Dicks,” for
instance, includes a portrait of Donald Trump, Vladimir Putin, and two other men, all espousing questionable ideologies.
They may well be orphaned adults, but their personalities can’t be boiled down to a reaction to grief. Midway through, a
quote by writer and actor Amy Sedaris, “Assume everyone is grieving,” reorients readers in light of such less apparent
examples of how an adult orphan might be grappling with loss. Finding oneself, family, friends, or others within these
pages makes it a perfectly contemplative coping tool.
A unique book with more than a few profound philosophical moments that evoke peace and foster emotional healing.
*Kirkus Starred Review*
The University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies interviewed Garwood-Jones about her marketing strategy for her new book, I Miss My Mommy: 150 Portraits of Orphaned Adults. The interview appeared on the university's blog, CuriousU.
TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, a provincial current affairs program, did a 15-minute profile of author Alison Garwood-Jones and her new book, I Miss My Mommy: 150 Portraits of Orphaned Adults. Timed for Mother's Day.
TVO’s The Agenda with Steve Paikin, a provincial current affairs program, did a 15-minute profile of author Alison Garwood-Jones and her new book, I Miss My Mommy: 150 Portraits of Orphaned Adults. Timed for Mother's Day.
Award-winning writer and columnist Anne Bokma prominently featured Alison Garwood-Jones' new book, I Miss My Mommy, in her Mother's Day column for The Hamilton Spectator. Coverage included a cover image and author photo, plus an interview with quotes on what orphaned adult grief is like on Mother's Day.
