Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Boy finds connection to deceased dog in warm grief tale.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
When THE INVISIBLE LEASH opens, it's the end of school on Friday, and Zack's feeling terrible. His beloved dog, Jojo, won't be with him this weekend. At home, his parents try to console him and tell him that they'll get a new dog when he's ready, but he doesn't want a new dog -- he wants Jojo. He's sad and angry. His school friend Emily comes by, and they go for a walk. "Jojo died this week," he tells her. "He got old and sick. Now I'll never see him again. Not ever." And he starts to cry. "It's okay, Zack," she says, adding, "I cried so hard when Rexie died too." Then she tells him about "the Invisible Leash that connects our hearts to each other. Forever." She heard about it from her grandpa, who heard about it from his grandpa. "He said it stretches to this place beyond where our eyes can't see... all the way to where our pets have gone." Emily says, "When I miss Rexie, I tug on the Invisible Leash and sometimes I can even hear her purr!" Zack asks her what an Invisible Tug feels like, and she answers, "Like love." Throughout the book, ghost versions of Jojo and Rexie appear near Zack and Emily, connected to the kids by swirling Invisible Leashes -- green for Jojo and magenta for Rexie. One spread late in the book imagines various animals frolicking in "the beyond."
Is It Any Good?
This reassuring story captures the intensity of grief and the joy of believing you can still feel a connection to your pet after it's passed away. Emily's empathy and compassion for Zack is especially touching as she respects his feelings while also giving him an idea -- The Invisible Leash -- as a tool to help him process his grief and feel better. This book may be a good resource for helping help kids deal with loss and talk about their emotions at a difficult time. The specific notions of "the beyond" and what goes on there, as well as the images of the ghost pets, might not suit every family, but the book can serve as a kid-friendly, creative conversation-starter to get kids to open up about their feelings.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what grief looks like in The Invisible Leash. Have you ever had a pet that died? How did that make you feel? What helped you get through it?
Emily shows empathy to Zack when she sees he's hurting and tells him she felt the same way when her cat died. Why is empathy an important character strength?
The kids in the book imagine their pets who've died playing and having fun in "the beyond." What do you think happens to animals after they die?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Joanne Lew-Vriethoff
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Animals
- Character Strengths : Communication , Compassion , Empathy
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
- Publication date : December 3, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 3 - 8
- Number of pages : 32
- Available on : Paperback, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 18, 2025
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