grief Kobe Bryant on stage at the Orange County Children's Book Festival oks at the phing bo ival ra g to u a ok Fest Kobe ounty Bo Orange C K obe shared his future plans and passion for Kobe Bry more inspiring books ant with daughte r Gianna and films to help kids see themselves as worthy and full of self-confidence. When Kobe was asked about his next book series entitled The Wizenard Series, he spoke about the series mission to delve into an internal journey that taps into the soul and helps to build empathy and compassion in kids. One thing that I'll always remember about meeting Kobe is his warmth, his openness and his huge beautiful smile and the way he hugged and thanked me for celebrating this new phase of his life. He was not like any other celebrity I'd ever met. 15 GRAND SPRING 2020 Pat Burns is the cofounder of the Orange County Children's Book Festival; a film reporter, Regional Editor of GRAND Magazine, author of Grandparents Rock, and the happy grandmother of four. In dealing with my own personal sadness over the tremendous loss of Kobe and the other families, I found two very helpful children's books dealing with loss that are also wonderful for grownups. The Invisible String is a sweet tale of frightened twins and their Mommy comforting them with an invisible string story. I interviewed the author Patrice Karst about her book. You can listen to our conversation by clicking the microphone icon. The second book is Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss. Click on books above to order. Through this tragedy, I'm reminded that life is precious and each day should be lived with love and joy as it can end so abruptly. Do your best to put aside anger and resentment. Reach out to friends when you think of them. Make sure your grandchildren hear from you. Even if they don't seem to pay attention, they will feel it. This is what makes life have meaning.https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0875167349/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0875167349&linkId=7b6d6273bd3dda2bdaad85fdeabdc215 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0961519762/ref=as_li_qf_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0961519762&linkId=e07f973d197890bf852c4af87df82870 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0994809700/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=0994809700&linkId=c0cf2342749a51234e00421ef2df453e https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003B6QYSW/ref=as_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=grandmagazi0d-20&camp=1789&creative=9325&linkCode=as2&creativeASIN=B003B6QYSW&linkId=74a78ba0a510c9871c2e38f745d59213 https://youtu.be/tjm1DTmRBfA https://fccdl.in/S9wZ4KmKWa http://www.kidsbookfestival.com/about-oc-childrens-book-festival/ http://www.kidsbookfestival.com/about-oc-childrens-book-festival/ http://www.kidsbookfestival.com/about-oc-childrens-book-festival/ http://www.grandmagazine.com/ http://www.amazon.com/Grandparents-Rock-Grandparenting-Rock-N-Roll-Generation/dp/1600373038/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381376920&sr=1-1&keywords=Grandparents+Rock http://www.amazon.com/Grandparents-Rock-Grandparenting-Rock-N-Roll-Generation/dp/1600373038/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1381376920&sr=1-1&keywords=Grandparents+Rock