Meet the Author
Sharon, a clinical social worker for more than twenty years, resides in Virginia with her husband, Frantz. She is a mother of one and grandmother of three. Sharon loves being aTalking to Sissy_SELLSHThttps://www.brandylanepublishers.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Talking-to-Sissy_SELLSHT.pdf “Shammy” to her grandchildren and looks forward to writing additional children’s books based on her experiences with them. When not working as a case manager for a major hospital system, spending time with her family, or writing, Sharon enjoys baking, shopping, and taking spontaneous road trips with her husband.
Details
Format: Paperback
Pages: 32
ISBN Paperback: 978-1-958754-38-2
Release Date: 1/22/2024
Endorsements
“A welcome addition for the preschool library. Talking to Sissy is a beautiful, compassionate picture book about the loss of a newborn. Told from three-year-old brother Oakley’s point of view, the book details his excitement at the prospect of a baby sister. Pago authentically captures Oakley’s voice and
handles the emotional content of the subject with gentle sensitivity.”
~ Julie Phend, author, blogger, and teacher
“Beautifully written and illustrated, Talking to Sissy addresses a difficult topic in an age-appropriate and gentle way. Anyone needing to explain loss to a young child should share this book.”
~ Sharon Lyon, educator and author of Fossil Woman
“Talking to Sissy is all at once an incredibly brief yet incredibly moving story of love and grief told from a child’s perspective. A sweet children’s book helped along by gorgeous illustrations, Sharon Pago’s story had me thinking I knew exactly what would happen, until I didn’t. A digestible way for young children to understand and process loss and love without losing any of the poignancy held by either feeling.”
~ Abu B. Rafique, author of Of Memories and Mirages
Meet the illustrator
Maryana Kachmar was born in Lviv, Ukraine, in 1983. She holds a Master of Sacred Art degree from the National Academy of Arts in Lviv (Ukraine) and now participates in the artistic group Zohrafos. Maryana has worked as editor and artist for several Christian children’s magazines (including Angelyatko and Flashlight) and has created two iconostases—one in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God in Lviv and one in the village of Prylbychi. Over the last ten years, she has illustrated more than 200 journals and more than thirty books. She is currently recording a folk album titled Come to Life, which is dedicated to Ukraine.
