Death of a Grandparent | Death of a Parent | Death of a Child (Sibling) | Death of Other Relatives | Death of a Friend | Death of a Pet |
The books on this bibliography are designed to help parents and children cope with the death of a loved one. Not every book is appropriate for every child. We strongly urge caregivers to pre-read a book before sharing it with a young person.
General Non-Fiction
155.937 BRO When Dinosaurs Die: a Guide to Understanding Death. Laurene Krasny Brown. Ages
4-8. Explains in simple language the feelings people may have regarding the death of a loved one and the ways to honor the memory of someone who has died.
155.937 KRO Helping Children Cope with the Loss of a Loved One: a Guide for Grownups. William Kroen.
Age-specific advice detailing what children can understand. Includes a bibliography and resource list.
155.937 SCH How Do We Tell the
Children? A Step by Step Guide for Helping Children Two to Ten Cope When Someone
Dies. Dan Schaeffer and Christine Lyons.
A practical guide for anyone who works with children includes a “Crisis
Checklist” with scripted answers to children’s frequently-asked questions.
155.93 JAM When Children Grieve – For Adults to Help Children Deal with Death, Divorce, Pet Loss, Moving
and Other Losses. John W. James and Russell Friedman.
Concrete suggestions of things to say and do with a child to help acknowledge
the loss and grieve in healthy ways.
155.937
EMS Guiding your Child through Grief. Mary Ann Emswiler.
The New England Center for Loss and Transition offers expert advice to help
a child grieve the death of a parent or sibling.
155.93 TRO Talking with Children about Loss -- Words, Strategies, and Wisdom to Help Children Cope with Death, Divorce, and other Difficult Times. Maria Trozzi.
155.937
THI 35 Ways to Help a Grieving Child. The Dougy Center.
The Dougy Center for the Grieving Child provides 35 practical suggestions for
helping children, teens, and their families cope with the loss of a loved one in
this short but valuable book.
155.937
FRY Part of Me Died, Too – Stories of Creative Survival Among Bereaved
Children and Teenagers. Virginia Fry. Ages 8 and up.
True stories of young people reflecting on their experiences with the deaths of
pets, family members, or friends.
155.937 SPR Death. (Preteen
Pressures Series) Barbara Sprung. Ages 8-12.
Discusses what it feels like to experience the death of a loved one, outlines
the stages of grief and mourning, and describes ways to honor or remember
someone who has died.
155.937 GID Coping with
Grieving and Loss. Sandra and Owen Giddens. Ages 11 and up.
Offers teens and pre-teens strategies for coping -- explaining the stages of
grieving, how to deal with friends and family, the funeral, anger, guilt and
depression, changing emotions, and where to go for help.
155.937 GRO Straight Talk about
Death for Teenagers: How to Cope With Losing Someone You Love. Earl Grollman. Ages 11 and up.
A poetic and thought-provoking book for teens who have experienced the death of
a friend or relative.
155.937 MEL Lifetimes: a
Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children. Bryan Mellonie. Ages 3-8.
This book explains to children that death is a part of life and that,
eventually, all living things reach the end of their own special lifetimes.
155.937 MEL The Saddest Time. Norma Simon. Ages 5-8.
In these three stories, children come to terms with the death of an uncle, a
classmate, and a grandmother.
A workbook title which is not available in libraries but may be a worthwhile
purchase for families looking for a book where children can process their
grieving through art:
Help Me Say Goodbye : Activities for Helping Kids Cope When a Special Person
Dies. Janis Silverman.
Badger’s Parting Gifts. Susan Varley.
Ages 3-8.
After Badger dies, his friends take comfort in the special memories they have of
the things they did together.
A Story for Hippo: A Book About Loss. Simon Puttock. Ages 3-7.
Hippo and Monkey are best, best friends and when the wise old Hippo dies, Monkey
is very sad until Chameleon helps him remember the stories he and Hippo shared.
What's heaven? Maria Shriver. Ages
4-9.
After her great-grandmother's death, a young girl learns about heaven by asking
her mother all kinds of questions.
The Blue Pearls. Elizabeth Stuart
Warfel. Ages 5-9.
Elise cannot leave her life on earth and join the angels until they have
completed her sapphire-blue dress. The story of the passage through death from
the perspective of a small angel.
Charlotte’s Web. E.B. White. Ages
5-10.
Charlotte the spider teaches Wilbur the pig many truths about life and death.
Juvenile Biography:
Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes. Eleanor Coerr. Ages 8-12.
Hospitalized with the dreaded atom bomb disease, leukemia, a child in Hiroshima
races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that
by doing so a sick person will become healthy.
