Stevie loved visiting Grandma and Grandpa on their farm! Grandpa let Stevie feed the chickens and lambs and ride on the tractor. They always had so much fun together.

One day not long after a visit to the farm, something went wrong with Grandpa’s heart and he died. Stevie had lost his best friend. He missed his Grandpa and wondered what it was like to die.

Death is a fact of life and yet there is a hope beyond the grave. Parents sometimes find it hard to communicate that hope to small children. This book was written with you, the Adventist parent, in mind. I Miss Grandpa tenderly tells a story of love, loss, and a butterfly that helps children deal with loss and understand the good news about those who sleep in Jesus.

Karen Holford began her writing ‘career’ at the age of six, sending articles to the children’s page of her local newspaper. It was such fun seeing her work in print that she decided there and then that she would like to write one book, one day. Her first book, ‘The Loneliest Grief’ was published in 1994, quickly followed by ‘Please God, Make my Mummy Nice!’ Now she has written about eight books, and countless articles for Christian magazines, mostly on family-related topics.

Creativity has been an important part of Karen’s life. Inspired by her Mom’s creativity, Karen would spend hours as a child trying to recreate beautiful things she had seen. Finding that creative activities inspire all kinds of thoughts about God, she has collected together lots of ideas to inspire the family worship of young families, and put them into one easy-to-use book. Recognizing that parents with young children are often over-stretched, the ideas are almost instant, and need very little preparation.

Karen has a MSc in Family Therapy and works as an Associate Family and Children’s Ministries Director together with her husband, Bernie, in the South England Conference. They have three teenage children.

Karen originally trained as an occupational therapist, and has an M.A. in Educational and Developmental Psychology from Andrews University. She is also a Certified Family Life Educator, and is currently studying family therapy in London. She also chairs ‘Churches Together for Families’ in England.

There’s not much free time, but Karen enjoys creative worship, making quilts, walking in the English countryside, and having fun with her family.