This book review seems like good timing with our current series on pain and loss! Certainly if death and pain is hard for us as adults to understand, it is much more so for children. Stacia McKeever’s lovely book Why is Keiko Sick?: A conversation with your child about why bad things happen is a fabulous resource for parents trying to explain the Biblical reasons for sickness and death to their children.

McKeever’s book is narrated by Emily, an elementary school-aged girl who’s best friend, Keiko, has been diagnosed with leukemia. [Keiko is from Japan, and there is also some information about Japanese culture throughout the story.] In order to answer her questions about why Keiko had to get sick, Emily’s parents pull out their Bible and explain from the Genesis account of creation and the fall why sickness and death are in our world.

I think McKeever does a great job of explaining the “goodness” of God’s original creation, the effects of sin, and why God placed the curse on His creation. She also ties in redemption, salvation, the Seed promise, and the new heaven and earth which will once again be “very good.”

McKeever’s descriptions in this book are well worded – these are two of the explanations that I appreciated the most:

• “even the earthquakes and tsunamis, and the wars that you’ve heard Mom and I talk about… all these are terrible and sad things. But I want you to understand that they are not God’s fault.”
• “‘Keiko is sick because of sin in the world,’ I said. ‘That’s right, Emily,’ he said. ‘Although, I want you to understand that it’s not necessarily because of any particular sin that you or I have committed.’”

The back of this book contains a two page “things to do and talk about together” section. These simple activities, discussion questions, and guided Scripture studies would be great to go through with a child who is starting to ask questions about suffering.

The illustrations in this book are nice, although not fabulous. This is definitely a book I would see us using as a resource when my kids have questions, rather than a fun-to-read picture book! While you could probably start with a younger child who has experienced a recent loss, I think this book would be most beneficial for early elementary ages.

**For more information or to purchase a copy, click on the book cover image to be taken to the publisher’s website. I am an affiliate and will receive a small percentage of the sale of this or other products. I was provided with a copy of this book in exchange for my review from New Leaf Publishing Group. The opinions expressed in this review are my unbiased thoughts as in keeping with my disclosure policy.