Why am I passionate about this?

Iā€™m a childrenā€™s book author-illustrator who loves picture books that can tackle difficult topics in a unique way. Along with Where Is Poppy?, Iā€™ve also illustrated The Remember Balloons, written by Jessie Oliveros, which helps to gently explain Alzheimerā€™s and memory loss to kids without sugarcoating the realities of the illness. I think books can be a great tool for helping kids understand and process ideas that can be a little heavy or overwhelming, even for adults.


I wrote

Book cover of Where Is Poppy?

What is my book about?

In this heartwarming Passover story, a young Jewish child learns to work through grief with the help of family, memory,ā€¦

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The books I picked & why

Book cover of The Sour Cherry Tree

Dana Wulfekotte Why did I love this book?

"I bit my mom on the toe this morning" might be one of my favorite opening lines for a picture book.

I love it when a sad book also makes room for playfulness and humor. It also has the loveliest illustrations, utilizing soft pencil lines and a limited color palette to match the gentleness of the text.

This book is a great example of how specificity can make a story feel so genuine and relatable, no matter who the reader is.

By Naseem Hrab, Nahid Kazemi (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Sour Cherry Tree as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.


Book cover of Grief Is an Elephant

Dana Wulfekotte Why did I love this book?

As an illustrator, it's always the artwork of a picture book that first draws me in.

In this book, lots of double-page spreads allow the beautiful, painterly illustrations to shine. But the text is equally moving. I love the way the author uses animal metaphors to describe the different ways grief can take form.

This book feels like a warm, comforting hug.

By Tamara Ellis Smith, Nancy Whitesides (illustrator),

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Grief Is an Elephant as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, and 5.

What is this book about?

An imaginative and heartfelt book that reminds us that there is no loss without love. When Grief first arrives, it is like an elephant-so big that there is hardly room for anything else. But over time, Grief can become smaller and smaller-until it is a fox, then a mouse, and finally a flickering firefly in the darkness leading us down a path of loving remembrance. This lyrical work is an empathetic and comforting balm for anyone who is experiencing grief-be it grieving the loss of a loved one or the losses in the world around us.


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Book cover of This Animal Body

This Animal Body by Meredith Walters,

Neuroscience PhD student Frankie Conner has finally gotten her life togetherā€”sheā€™s determined to discover the cause of her depression and find a cure for herself and everyone like her. But the first day of her program, she meets a group of talking animals who have an urgent message they refuseā€¦

Book cover of A Walk in the Woods

Dana Wulfekotte Why did I love this book?

This book is a quiet and moving book about the loss of a father, which is also a lovely ode to nature.

It feels even more special knowing that Brian Pinkney finished the final art of this book after his father, Jerry, passed away, mirroring the boy in the story whose father leaves behind a final page in his sketchbook for him to finish. 

By Nikki Grimes, Jerry Pinkney (illustrator), Brian Pinkney (illustrator)

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked A Walk in the Woods as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 4, 5, 6, and 7.

What is this book about?

In this moving account of loss, a boy takes a walk in the woods and makes a discovery that changes his understanding of his father.

A week after the funeral
I stare in the morning mirror
Angry that my fatherā€™s eyes
Stare back at me.

Confused and distraught after the death of his father, a boy opens an envelope he left behind and is surprised to find a map of the woods beyond their house, with one spot marked in bright red. But why? The woods had been something they shared together, why would his father want him to goā€¦


Book cover of Big Cat, Little Cat

Dana Wulfekotte Why did I love this book?

I read this book shortly after losing my pet rabbit, and I almost started crying in the middle of the bookstore.

The text and artwork are so simple while conveying so much feeling. And the ending brings the story full circle in a wonderful way. It is a perfect book for anyone who has lost a beloved pet.

By Elisha Cooper,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Big Cat, Little Cat as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 3, 4, 5, and 6.

What is this book about?

There was a cat
who lived alone.
Until the day
a new cat came . . .

And so a story of friendship begins, following two cats through their days, months, and years until one day, the older cat has to go. And he doesn't come back.

This is a poignant story, told in measured text and bold black-and-white illustrations about life and the act of moving on.


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Book cover of Love and Chocolate

Love and Chocolate by Linda Shenton Matchett,

Ilsa Krause and her siblings are stunned to discover their father left massive debt behind upon his death. To help pay off their creditors, she takes a job at Beckā€™s Chocolates, the company her father despised. To make matters worse, her boss is Ernst Webber, her high school love whoā€¦

Book cover of Duck, Death and the Tulip

Dana Wulfekotte Why did I love this book?

This is another book about death that will also make you laugh.

I appreciate how direct this book is while still managing to be tender and sensitive. And the artwork matches the tone of the text well. Death looks both friendly and a little creepy.

It may not be for every family, but I love how oddly funny and heartbreaking this book is. 

By Wolf Erlbruch,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked Duck, Death and the Tulip as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From award-winning author and illustrator, Wolf Erlbruch, comes one of the worldā€™s best childrenā€™s books about grief and loss.

In a curiously heart-warming and elegantly illustrated story, a duck strikes up an unlikely friendship with Death. Duck and Death play together and discuss big questions. Death, dressed in a dressing gown and slippers, is sympathetic and kind and will be duckā€™s companion until the end.

ā€œIā€™m cold,ā€ she said one evening. ā€œWill you warm me a little?ā€
Snowflakes drifted down.
Something had happened. Death looked at the duck.
Sheā€™d stopped breathing. She lay quite still.

Explaining the topic of deathā€¦


Explore my book šŸ˜€

Book cover of Where Is Poppy?

What is my book about?

In this heartwarming Passover story, a young Jewish child learns to work through grief with the help of family, memory, and tradition.

Itā€™s Passover time, and everything seems the same, but thereā€™s one major problem. Poppy is gone. And itā€™s just not Passover without Poppy. Mama says heā€™s still here, and Aunty says to keep looking, but where? This young child searches and searches but canā€™t find Poppy anywhere. All of Poppyā€™s favorite people are here though, and so are the special traditions he taught them. Suddenly, she starts to realize that maybe, just maybe, Poppy is here, tooā€¦and always will be.

Book cover of The Sour Cherry Tree
Book cover of Grief Is an Elephant
Book cover of A Walk in the Woods

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