I Wish I Could Tell You

A touching, poetic tale that wrestles with the complex emotions we feel when we lose someone close to usLosing someone you love, someone close to you, can be difficult to talk about. But, sometimes, writing a letter can help you find the words you wish you could say. That’s exactly what a young fox realizes one morning after learning about the death of his beloved grandmother, someone with whom he shared so many special memories. As he longingly searches for any trace of her presence in all their familiar haunts, the young bear soon discovers that only by embracing his grief will the right words—the words he wishes he could say to grandmother—come to him.

"The story explores the confusion, disbelief, sorrow, and acceptance of losing a loved one in a compassionate, accessible way, ending on a reminder to cherish the good memories."-- "Foreword" (5/17/2023 12:00:00 AM)

Jean-Francois Sénéchal was born among books. After studying anthropology, he returned to his first love, devoting himself to literature. He is a well-decorated author: the winner of the 2017 Joseph S. Stauffer Prize in Literature from the Canada Council for the Arts, a 2019 Prix jeunesse des libraires du Québec, and a 2021 Governor General’s Award, for which he was also a finalist in 2019. Sénéchal was also named to the 2018 Honour List of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY).