Oliver Saurus

OLIVERSAURUS

A JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF

OLIVERSAURUS

© 2014 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without permission. The opinions expressed in this book are those of the author only and not those of York College of Pennsylvania.

This book is an experimental project for purely educational design purposes.Design by Arthur Caleb RobertsonPrinted by www.lulu.com

Written & Illustrated by Arthur Caleb Robertson

OLIVERSAURUS

A JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF

The author dedicates this journal to all of the children working through some of life’s biggest questions. May this journal teach you the importance of bringing your thoughts and feelings out of your head and onto paper.

THIS BOOK BELONGS TO

THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO

1/

/2

Hello friend,

My name is Oliver, I’m at Olivia’s House today because I’ve lost something very special to me just like you. They were a part of me and now that they are gone I can’t do things the way that I use to. It’s not easy but as times passes I learn new ways to live without my arms. Follow me through this journal and I’ll tell you my story. Journaling is my favorite way to work through my thoughts. You’ll be asked to write, draw, define and, be challenged to think through out this journal. I’ve provided you space to write or draw in answers, but write wherever you please. After all, this is your journal, your story and, your process.

Meet Oliver

3/

Why did you come to Olivia’s House? Did you lose someone special? Can you tell me your favorite memory you have of them?

/4

SELFportraitDraw it, write it or print it out and paste it...

5/

DRAWit

Use pencil, pen or marker to fill this page in color.

/6

WRITEitYou are allowed to have angry thoughts. Everyone does, even me. Let’s bring those thoughts to the surface. Keep writing and don’t stop writing until every inch of this page is full.

7/

GLUEit

See that page over there, the one you just wrote all over?Rip it out of this book!

Now rip the page into pieces the size of a quarter.Grab a Glue stick.

Apply glue to the side you wrote your angry thoughts on. Stick the glued peices onto this page.

Stick them anywhere and everywhere on this page.Construct a colorful collage of anything you wish.

Do not worry about the end result just keep on gluing.

/8

one step at a time

9/

It was my first day and I was nervous. I never thought I was going to make it to the top.

Were you ever nervous to begin a project?

/10

Everything around me was so big and I felt so small.Have you ever been told you were too small? How did it make you feel?

11/

small creatures can make a BIG impact

/12

strength in numbers

13/

It was my first group meeting, what do I say? No one knows what I’m dealing with. These are a few things I thought during my first group meeting. It took me a little bit but I realized everyone had lost something, just like me.

What was the first group meeting like for you?

/14

WRITEitList 5 things that you are going to do to make everyone proud of you.

1

3

2

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5

15/

DEFINEit

Expedition [ek-spi-dish-uh n]

A tr

ip o

r jo

urne

y m

ade

for

a sp

ecifi

c p

urp

ose

.

/16

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63 64

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107108109

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146145147148149150

151 153154

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158159160161

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70

9

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11

191817

1615 14

13

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7279

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94959697

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DRAWit

Connect the dots then color!

/18

When things got tough, I used to run away and cover my-self up. This didn’t help me, being someone else for a few minutes or hours just made things worse.

Have you ever worn a mask to hide your true self from other people?

19/

don’t mask it

/20

WRITEitDid you know that hippo milk is pink? Also there are more stars in space than there are grains of sand in every beach on earth.

Have you ever heard some thing mind blowing?

21/

READit

Now it’s time for a cool little trick. What if I told you, you could scream at the top of your lungs and no one could hear you?

Read the following sentences in your head and follow the instructions.

The voice within me is powerful I can do amazing things without even making a peep or moving a finger. I can whisper so softly I can’t even hear or I can SCREAM out loud without worry or fear. I can bark like a dog “ruff ruff” or meow like a cat “meow”. I can even make the noise of a cracking baseball bat. I hear the cheers of the fans as run the bases. As I round 3rd and slide into home I smell fresh cut grass and the popcorn that my fans are enjoying. “If I“ want to be a Cowboy, I can do just that, I’ll put on my hat and suck on some straw and talk in my best western draw, there’s a snake in my boot! But now I’m a dinosaur, ruler of the land, I can dig down deep and roar! roAR! ROAR! Now I’m back from all my travels and my favorite lesson of all is that I didn’t ever leave, I did all these cool things with the power of my brain!

/22

fight! fight! fight!

23/

I thought I was obeying the rules, I thought I had every-thing figured out, but I got into a fight with a few guys in my group. They just wouldn’t stop picking on me. I had to do something right? I now know that I should have just left the situation and not given into fighting, but why did fighting seem like my only option?

Have you ever been in a fight? How did it happen? With who? Do you feel sorry?

/24

DEFINEitBrave [breyv]

to d

efy; challenge; d

are.

25/

DRAWit

Draw your house from memory.

/26

WRITEitHow are you today? Tell me what’s on your mind. My arms may be small but that leaves room for my ears to be even bigger.

27/

DRAWit

draw me some buddies

/28

making new friends

29/

It’s difficult to look back to a few weeks ago. I never thought that I would have made the friends that I did. Ernie always makes that silly face and henry is my new big brother.

Tell me about your friends!

/30

DIRECTitDo you love movies, comics or funny skits? The cool thing about those awesome shows you love is that they were once storyboards. A storyboard shows key changes or moments in a story. Come up with a story you can play out over 8 scenes, draw and write a narrative of what your story is about along the way.Think of each rectangle as a new scene in a movie. Action!

31/

/32

find joy in the unknown

33/

I love playing with my friends. We never know what kind of new adventures are coming our way. That’s just the way we like it. We find joy in the unknown.

What kinds of things do you like to do with your friends? Have you ever done anything you were not supposed to? Why did you do it? Did you get into trouble?

/34

WRITEitWith proper planning writing a great story can be quite easy. Great stories have unexpected hero’s who rise above a struggle. There are three types of conflict our main character can face but let’s just write a story about one of them, our Hero v. the villain. (Remember a hero doesn’t have to be from a comic book hero’s walk among us daily.)

Fill in the blanks below

WHO? What does he or she look like?

Does he or she have any special powers?

What is their weakness?

WHAT? Who or what is our hero battling against?

WHERE? Where does your story take place?

WHEN? When does your story take place, past, present or, future?

WHY? How did this conflict start?

35/

Now use the space below to write an epic story using the information you came up with from the last page. (Tape or staple in more pages if you need to.)

/36

at least I tried

37/

I used to be very good at the piano, but then I had my accident. I will not give up without at least trying again though. Being bad at something is the start of being good at something.

What are some new things you want to try?

/38

WRITEitWhat are some things that would be hard to do without arms?

39/

DRAWit

Draw my arms. Think beyond dinosoaurs arms.

Are they trees? Perhaps they’re covered in bees...

/40

not the same

41/

I’ve tried a few new arm substitutes, but they are just not the same as my old ones. My new arms are pretty wicked in their own way though! I have a rake for an arm! I can do so many more things then ever before. I do still miss my old arms and want them back. I don’t think I’m ever going to lose that feeling. I have to appreciate my new arms for what they are and continue to be grateful for all the things I do have in my life.

What do you miss the most? What are you still grateful for?

/42

WRITEitWrite a story in which you are the hero.

43/

DEFINEit

PRIDE [prahyd]

satis

fact

ion

take

n in

so

met

hing

do

ne b

y yo

urse

lf

/44

Draw it, write it or print it out and paste it...

SELFportrait

45/

Losing something close to you is hard. Some days are better than others, and with time you will learn to cope with what you have lost and live with what you have. But, sometimes all you need is...

/46

a big ol’ bear hug

47/

/48

OLIVIA’S HOUSEA GRIEF AND LOSS CENTER

FOR CHILDREN