The Heavy Backpack follows a little girl called Enid who has just lost her Granddad. As Enid goes out for a walk with lots of different emotions whooshing around inside her head, she feels the weight of the heavy bag that she is carrying.

Along her journey, Enid comes across different kinds of people who encourage her to talk about how she is feeling. With each meeting, she offloads an item from her backpack that represents a stage of grief and talks about her feelings. As she takes out each item from her backpack, it feels lighter and she walks along her journey feeling easier, until she is left with only happy memories.

About the Author: Sarah Surgey has been a freelance writer and teacher for over 10 years. In 2020, Sarah began writing children’s books. Her first book The Heavy Bag was published in the UK in 2020. It is used within primary schools across the UK as an Emotional Support Book, exploring grief and loss and was chosen as Giovanna Fletcher’s World Book Day book for 2022. The Heavy Bag has been recorded into an audio book by the British singer/actress, Collette Cooper. All monies raised from that edition are going to the charity DEC (Disasters Emergency Committee) for their Ukraine appeal.

About the Illustrator: Larisa Ivankovic is a freelance illustrator, with several years of experience in illustrating books for children through her company Little Witch Factory illustrations. She says children’s illustrations are one of her favourites, as: ‘It keeps you optimistic, sincere and creative. I’m enjoying bringing to life stories from different authors. It is a kind of creation of new worlds.’