OLIVER

SAURUS
A JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF

OLIVER
SAURUS

 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 Robertson
Printed by www.lulu.com

OLIVER
SAURUS

A JOURNEY THROUGH GRIEF

Written & Illustrated by
Arthur Caleb Robertson

The author dedicates this journal to all of the children working through some of
lifes 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

Meet Oliver
Hello friend,
My name is Oliver, Im at Olivias House today because Ive lost something very
special to me just like you. They were a part of me and now that they are gone I
cant do things the way that I use to. Its not easy but as times passes I learn new
ways to live without my arms. Follow me through this journal and Ill tell you my
story. Journaling is my favorite way to work through my thoughts. Youll be asked
to write, draw, define and, be challenged to think through out this journal. Ive
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.

3/

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

/4

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

5/

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

DRAW it
/6

WRITEit
You are allowed to have angry thoughts. Everyone does,
even me. Lets bring those thoughts to the surface. Keep writing
and dont stop writing until every inch of this page is full.

7/

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.

GLUEit
/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 Im 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

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

15/

Expedition [ek-spi-dish-uh n]

DEFINE it

/16

A trip or journey made for a specific purpose.

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17/

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Connect the dots then color!

DRAW it
/18

When things got tough, I used to run away and cover myself up. This didnt 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/

dont mask it
/20

WRITEit
Did 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/

Now its 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 cant 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, Ill put on my hat and suck on some straw and
talk in my best western draw, theres a snake in my boot! But now Im a dinosaur,
ruler of the land, I can dig down deep and roar! roAR! ROAR! Now Im back from
all my travels and my favorite lesson of all is that I didnt ever leave, I did all these
cool things with the power of my brain!

READ it
/22

fight! fight! fight!

23/

I thought I was obeying the rules, I thought I had everything figured out, but I got into a fight with a few guys in
my group. They just wouldnt 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

DEFINE it
Brave [breyv]

to defy; challenge; dare.

25/

Draw your house from memory.

DRAW it
/26

WRITEit
How are you today? Tell me whats on your mind. My arms may be small
but that leaves room for my ears to be even bigger.

27/

draw me some buddies

DRAW it
/28

making new friends

29/

Its 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

DIRECT it
Do 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. Thats 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

WRITEit
With proper planning writing a great story can be quite easy. Great stories have
unexpected heros who rise above a struggle. There are three types of conflict
our main character can face but lets just write a story about one of them, our
Hero v. the villain. (Remember a hero doesnt have to be from a comic book
heros 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?

35/

How did this conflict start?

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

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

39/

Draw my arms.
Think beyond dinosoaurs arms.
Are they trees?
Perhaps theyre covered in bees...

DRAW it
/40

not the same

41/

Ive 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 dont think Im 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

WRITEit
Write a story in which you are the hero.

43/

PRIDE [prahyd]

DEFINE it

/44

satisfaction taken in something done by yourself

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

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

OLIVIAS HOUSE
A GRIEF AND LOSS CENTER
FOR CHILDREN