Books to read to your child about Death and Grief
The holiday season is always full of nostalgia and remembrance. Your child may remember someone who was here last year, but isn’t this year. Death can be very confusing for your child, and can bring up a lot of big feelings. As their caregiver, you may be grieving this person too. It can be hard and exhausting to answer all their questions while experiencing your own grief. Books on grief are a great way to answer your child’s questions and help them process what they have been through.
If your child is asking a lot of questions about their loved one, offering a safe time and space to read one of these books could be very beneficial.
When Dinosaurs Die
Written by Laurie Krasny Brown
Illustrated by Marc Brown
This book is a great, clear guide on death and grieving. It goes over everything they may have questions about - The difference between life and death, feelings that come with grief, fears, and what comes after someone dies. The book ends with examples of ways we can honor the people who aren’t here with us anymore. Reading this book will help your child process these feelings, and help them move forward in the grieving process. We suggest giving your child the resources and materials to continue remembering their loved one. This may be something your child wants to do with you, or focus on alone. Just always remind them that you are there for them.
To Everything
Written and Illustrated by Bob Barner
It is important to note that although this book is based on a bible scripture, it is a very open and broad book that can support anyone of any religion. The main message of this book is that there is a time for everything. There is a time to be alive, and a time to die. That is just the way of life. It’s a very poetic book, relating the cycle of life to other things in our world. One of my favorite lines in this one is, “a time to mourn, a time to dance”. This is a reminder to your child that they will not be sad forever. It may feel like it now - and that sad feeling may come back again - but there will also be time to dance, and be happy.
Ida, Always
Written by Caron Levis
Illustrated by Charles Santoso
This book tells the story of a polar bear named Gus, who finds out his best friend, Ida, is sick and will die soon. This story explores the heavy and big emotions that come with anticipating grief. Gus finds ways to connect with his friend before she passes, and even after. This book ends with a reminder that your loved ones will be with you always. Sometimes you may hear, see, or smell something that makes you think of them out of the blue. When Gus hears the “heartbeat of the city around him”, he thinks of how he and Ida would listen to it together. There are things that we can do to remember our loved ones fondly. We may miss them sometimes, but they are always here with us.
Something New
Written by Rebecca Honic
Illustrated by Tom Brannon
Elmo’s cousin, Jesse, has lost her dad. There are many books within this series, but this one emphasizes how things may change a lot when somebody close to you dies, which has not been covered as much in this article. Jesse struggles with these new things, which all seem hard and frustrating. Like her mom’s new job, or how her dad can’t tuck her in at night. Her mom emphasizes that although their life has changed (and it may keep changing), they can see the hope and the positives within these changes. All things change, grow, and die. Like the plants and the bugs that they see when they’re going on their walks
I would like to end this post by emphasizing that as you go through this tough period, you are not alone. There are many great resources that are here to support you and your family. Here are some additional resources.
Sesame Workshop
“Something New” is provided by Sesame Workshop, which is an organization directly tied to Sesame Street. They provide free access to all sorts of materials, activities & games, books, and more to help your child through many things - including grief. They use familiar characters to discuss these hard topics, which will be comforting for your child to know that even their most loved characters go through hard things.
Annie’s Hope
Annie’s hope is the go-to bereavement center here in St. Louis. They offer many different kinds of resources, including;
Family Support Groups
School Support & Education
Summer Camps
Teen Retreats
Horizons: Anticipatory grief support
Social events,
Community resource library - with tons of books like the ones listed above. If you are looking for a book over something that is not covered here, you can email or call Emma Cole at, Program Specialist, at EmmaC@AnniesHope.org or (314) 965-5015.
There is no fee to use any resource provided by Annie’s Hope.
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network
The National Child Traumatic Stress Network is not only a great resource to therapists, but it offers a lot of great educational resources for parents and caregivers of a child going through the death of a loved one. This link will send you to all of the resources specifically for parents. They are all completely free.
We at Bud to Bloom are also here to support your child through grief and hardships. Play therapy is a great way for your child to explore these feelings in a safe and nonjudgemental place. Please contact us if you are interested in working with us.