This review is written by Zeina El Zein, 26 years old, from Lebanon, working as an expressive art therapist.
Stories to Light the Night touched me in a very deep and personal way. In Lebanon, where I live and work, grief and loss are part of our daily reality. The ongoing war continues to take lives, destroy homes, and leave deep scars. Personally, I have lost close loved ones, and my mother lost her childhood home. Around me, everyone is grieving.
While I could review the entire book in detail, I want to highlight one specific story — ‘Bright Light’.
This July 2025, I was assigned to work with children affected by the pager attacks that happened back in September 2024, two of whom had lost their eyes and hands. Reading ‘Bright Light’ privately before sharing it, I felt a profound gratitude for my own eyes and senses — and ache for what those children had endured.
I later read the story to one of them, a 12-year-old boy who hadn’t expressed anything since the attack. He was angry, withdrawn, and silent. As I read, he cried. Then he thanked me, saying he missed his eyes and missed seeing people, but he was thankful to God that he could still hear stories. He said he was grateful to feel his tears on his face again. That moment reminded me how storytelling can reach places nothing else can.
This Saturday, August 16, 2025, I will be with those children again to fly kites and speak about collective healing. Carrying the inspiration of this book, I am hopefully planning to write a story of my own, born from what I have learned through this work.
Stories to Light the Night is much more than a collection of tales, but also a companion for anyone facing grief. It offers words when silence feels too heavy, and light when things feel too dark.
Even in times of war, loss, and sadness, those stories reminded me that there is still connection, still healing, and still hope.
With gratitude,
Zeina El Zein
Stories to Light the Night: A Grief and Loss Collection for Children, Families and Communities
Susan Perrow
Stories and words have therapeutic potential. They can strengthen us, help to reframe things, and help make meaning. This book offers story medicine for children, families and communities at times of grieving, loss and separation.
