When Someone We Love Dies
Books for Children about Death and Grief at the Elmhurst Public Library
Non-Fiction Books about Death
Amos, Janine. Death
Uses letters, stories, and informational text to help children cope with the death of a loved one. (J 155.937 Amo)
Bratman, Fred. Everything You Need to Know When a Parent Dies
A guide to coping with the stresses and emotions arising after the death of a parent. (J 155.937 Bra)
Brown, Laurie When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death
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. (J 155.937 Bro)
Cohn, Janice. I Had a Friend Named Peter
When Betsy learns about the death of a friend, her parents and kindergarten teacher answer questions about dying, funerals, and the burial process. (J/PT 155.937 Coh)
Fry, Virginia. Part of Me Died, Too
Eleven case histories of children in mourning show how children deal with grief, and include strategies for survival. For grades 5 and up. (J 155.937 Fry)
Krementz, Jill. How it Feels When a Parent Dies
Eighteen young people ages seven to sixteen discuss the questions, fears, and bereavement they experienced when one of their parents died. (J 155.937 Kre)
MacGregor, Cynthia. Why Do People Die?
Explains death, its effect on the living, and some of the beliefs, customs, and rituals associated with it. (J 155.937 Mac)
Mellonie, Bryan. Lifetimes: A Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children
This book explains that all living things have a beginning and an ending, with living in between. (J 155.937 Mel)
Spies, Karen. Everything You Need to Know About Grieving
Examines the feeling of grief experienced from the loss of a loved one and how to talk to someone who is grieving. (J 155.937 Spi)
When a Pet Dies
Picture Books
Dabcovich, Lydia. Mrs. Huggins and Her Hen Hannah
Mrs. Huggins’ contented relationship with her hen Hannah comes to an unfortunate end but is reborn in an unexpected way. (J/E Dab)
Demas, Corinne. Saying Goodbye to Lulu
When her dog Lulu dies, a girl grieves but then continues with her life. (J/E Dem)
DiSalvo-Ryan, Dyanne. A Dog Like Jack
After a long life of chasing squirrels, licking ice cream cones, and loving his adoptive family, an old dog comes to the end of his days. (J/E Dis)
Harris, Robie Goodbye, Mousie
A boy grieves for his dead pet Mousie, helps to bury him, and begins to come to terms with his
loss. (J/E Har)
Newman, Leslea. The Best Cat in the World
A young boy deals with the loss of his beloved cat, Charlie, eventually accepting the arrival of another, very different cat. (J/E New)
Rosen, Michael. Bonesy and Isabel
Isabel, an adopted Salvadoran girl, adjusts to her new life in America by befriending the old dog Bonesy, but then she must deal with her grief when he dies. (J/E Ros)
Rylant, Cynthia. Dog Heaven
God created Dog Heaven, a place where dogs can eat ice cream, biscuits, sleep on fluffy clouds, and run through unending fields. (J/E Ryl)
Smith, Maggie. Desser, the Best Ever Cat
A child describes how Desser the cat had always been part of the family and how much he was loved even after he died. (J/E Smi)
Viorst, Judith. The Tenth Good Thing About Barney
In an attempt to overcome his grief, a boy tries to think of the ten best things about his dead cat. (J/E Vio)
Winhelm, Hans. I’ll Always Love You
A child's sadness at the death of a beloved dog is tempered by the remembrance of saying to it every nignt, "I'll always love you." (J/E Wil)
Fiction
Cleary, Beverly. Ramona Forever
Third grade Ramona must deal with the death of her beloved cat, Picky-Picky. 182 pages. (J/Fic Cleary)
Graeber, Charlotte. Mustard
Eight-year-old Alex and his family try to come to terms with the old age and death of their beloved cat. 42 pages. (J/Fic Graeber)
Stewart, Elisabeth. Bimmi Finds a Cat
An eight-year-old boy grieves the death of his cat, but when another lost cat leads him to a new friend he starts to heal. 33 pages. (J/Fic Stewart)
Wallace, Bill. No Dogs Allowed!
Eleven-year-old Kristina, still struggling to come to terms with the death of her beloved horse, finds it difficult to accept the new dog she receives for her birthday. 214 pages. (J/Fic Wallace)
Non-fiction
Rogers, Fred. When a Pet Dies
Explores the feelings of frustration, sadness, and loneliness that a youngster may feel when a pet dies. (J 155.937 Rog)
Saying Goodbye to….A Pet
Discusses ways to manage and understand the facts and feelings surrounding bereavement. Offers practical suggestions for managing grief and gives ideas for keeping hold of memories of their pet. (J 155.937 Edw)
Losing a Loved One
Picture Books
Bahr, Mary. If Nathan Were Here
A young boy grieves the loss of his best friend and thinks about how things would be if he were still alive. (J/E Bah)
Bunting, Eve. Rudi’s Pond
When a sick boy dies, his friends and classmates remember him by building a schoolyard pond in his memory. (J/E Bun)
Carson, Jo. You Hold Me and I’ll Hold You
When a great-aunt dies, a young child finds comfort in being held and in holding, too. (J/E Car)
DePaola, Tomie. Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs
Four-year-old Tommy enjoys his relationship with both his grandmother and great-grandmother, but eventually learns to face their inevitable death. (J/E DeP)
Durant, Alan. Always and Forever
A family of forest animals learns to cope with the death of a loved one. (J/E Dur)
Kroll, Virginia. Fireflies, Peach Pies, and Lullabies
When Francie's Great-Granny Annabel dies of Alzheimer's disease, Francie finds a way to help people remember the real person rather than the shell she had become as the disease ran its course. (J/E Kro)
Plourde, Lynn. Thank You, Grandpa
On her many walks with her grandfather, a young girl learns to appreciate life and deal with death. (J/E Plo)
Prestine, Joan. Someone Special Died
A young girl describes the anger and sadness she feels after someone she loved dies, and makes a scrapbook to remember the things they did together. (J/E Pre)
Rylant, Cynthia. The Stars Will Still Shine
In pictures and rhyming text, this verse reassures the reader that life’s familiar things, such as stars that shine and sleeping kittens, will continue as they always have. (J/E Ryl)
Wood, Douglas. Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth
Because Grandad has explained how all things in the natural world pray and make a gift to the beauty of life, his grandson is comforted when Grandad dies. (J/E Woo)
For 2nd and 3rd grade readers:
Bosak, Susan. Something to Remember Me By
This book helps children understand the value of intergenerational relationships, the changes life brings, and the gifts one generation gives to another. (J/E Bos)
Carlstrom, Nancy. Blow Me A Kiss, Miss Lilly
When her best friend, an old lady named Miss Lilly, passes away, Sara learns that the memory of a loved one never dies. (J/E Car)
Cosby, Bill. The Day I Saw My Father Cry
Although Little Bill is sad when a friend of the family dies, he remembers the friend’s lesson of saying “Merry Christmas” to get people to stop fighting. (J/B Cosby)
Hest, Amy. Love You, Soldier
Katie, a young girl living in New York City during World War II, must deal with the loss of her father during the fighting. 48 pages. (J/Fic Hest)
Jukes, Mavis. Blackberries in the Dark
Nine-year-old Austin visits his grandmother the summer after his grandfather dies and together they try to come to terms with their loss. 48 pages. (J/Fic Jukes)
Miles, Miska. Annie and the Old One
A Navajo girl unravels a day’s weaving on a rug whose completion, she believes, will mean the death of her grandmother. 44 pages. (J/Fic Miles)
Rosen, Michael. Michael Rosen’s Sad Book
A man tells about all the emotions that accompany his sadness over the death of his son, and how he tries to cope. (J/E Ros)
Varley, Susan. Badger’s Parting Gifts
Badger’s friends are sad when he dies, but they treasure the legacies he left them. (J/E Var)
Vigna, Judith. Saying Goodbye to Daddy
Frightened, lonely, and angry after her father is killed in a car accident, Clare is helped through the grieving process by her mother and grandfather. (J/E Vig)
White, E.B. Charlotte’s Web
The story of Wilbur the pig and how, through his friendship with Charlotte the spider, he became famous and learned about life and death. 184 pages. (J/Fic White)
Willner-Pardo, Gina. Hunting Grandma’s Treasures
A boy's dying grandmother helps him say good-bye and accept life's changes. 40 pages. (J/Fic Willner-Pardo)
For 4th and 5th grade readers:
Adler, Carole. Daddy’s Climbing Tree
Eleven-year-old Jessica refuses to believe the reality of her father’s death when he is killed in a hit and run accident. 134 pages. (J/Fic Adler)
Johnson, Angela. Looking for Red
A thirteen-year-old girl struggles to cope with the loss of her beloved older brother, who disappeared four months earlier off the coast of Cape Cod. 116 pages. (J/Fic Johnson)
Kinsey-Warnock, Natalie. Gifts from the Sea
A 12-year-old girl finds comfort after her mother’s death in caring for a baby she rescues from a shipwreck. 112 pages. (J/Fic Kinsey-Warnock)
Kornblatt, Marc. Understanding Buddy
When a new classmate stops speaking because of the sudden death of his mother, fifth grader Sam tries to befriend him and risks destroying his relationship with his best friend Alex. 113 pages. (J/Fic Kornblatt)
Kuns, J. Irvin. While You Were Out
Returning to school after the summer in which her best friend Tim died of cancer, eleven-year-old Penelope finds her life complicated by the fact that her father has become the school janitor. 132 pages. (J/Fic Kuns)
MacLachlan, Patricia. Baby
Taking care of a baby left with them at the end of the tourist season helps a family come to terms with the death of their own infant son. 132 pages. (J/Fic MacLachlan)
Park, Barbara. Mick Harte Was Here
Thirteen-year-old Phoebe recalls her younger brother Mick and his death in a bicycle accident. 89 pages. (J/Fic Park)
Paterson, Katherine. Bridge to Terabithia
The life of a ten-year-old boy in rural Virginia expands when he becomes friends with a newcomer who subsequently meets an untimely death trying to reach their hideaway, Terabithia, 128 pages. (J/Fic Paterson)
Rock, Gail. The Thanksgiving Treasure
Addie’s Thanksgiving gesture toward a crotchety old man results in a friendship between the two, and when he dies rather unexpectedly, Addie must deal with death for the first time. 90 pages. (J/Fic Rock)
Smith, Doris. A Taste of Blackberries
A young boy recounts his efforts to adjust to the accidental death of his best friend. 58 pages. (J/Fic Smith)
Wallace-Brodeur, Ruth. Blue Eyes Better
When her older brother is killed in an accident, ten-year-old Tessa and her parents find it difficult to overcome their grief and return to living normally. 106 pages. (J/Fic Wallace-Brodeur)
For middle school readers:
Conly, Jane Leslie. Crazy Lady!
As he tries to come to terms with his mother's death, Vernon finds solace in his growing relationship with the neighborhood outcasts, an alcoholic and her mentally handicapped son. 180 pages. (J/Fic Conly)
Deans, Sis. Every Day and All the Time
Eleven-year-old Emily, still reeling from the car accident that took her older brother's life and badly injured her, uses psychotherapy and ballet dancing to cope with her parents' decision to sell their house--the only place she can still feel and talk to her brother. 234 pages. (J/Fic Deans)
Deaver, Julie Reece. Say Goodnight, Gracie
When a car accident kills her friend Jimmy, with whom she has shared everything from childhood escapades to breaking into the theatre scene in Chicago, 17-year-old Morgan must find her own way of coping with his death. 214 pages. (J/Fic Deaver)
Kadohata, Cynthia. Kira-Kira
Chronicles the close friendship between two Japanese-American sisters growing up in rural Georgia during the late 1950s and early 1960s, and the despair when one sister becomes terminally ill. 244 pages. (J/Fic Kadohata)
Lowry, Lois. A Summer to Die
Thirteen-year-old Meg envys her sister’s beauty and popularity. Her feelings don’t make it any easier for her to cope with Molly’s strange illness and eventual death. 154 pages. (J/Fic Lowry)
Mazer, Norma. Girlhearts
Thirteen-year-old Sarabeth Silver's life is turned upside-down when her mother dies suddenly, leaving her orphaned, confused, and at the mercy of everyone who seems to know what is best for her. 210 pages. (J/Fic Mazer)
Metzger, Lois. Missing Girls
During eighth grade, Carrie moves in with her grandmother, becomes friends with an indrawn classmate, and comes to terms with her mother's death. 176 pages. (J/Fic Metzger)
Pohl, Peter. I Miss You, I Miss You
Thirteen-year-old Tina Dubois and her identical twin sister, Cilla, are extremely close and yet different personalities, and when Cilla is suddenly killed, Tina and her family struggle to come to terms with the loss. 247 pages. (J/Fic Pohl)
Smith, Cynthia. Rain Is Not My Indian Name
Tired of staying in seclusion since the death of her best friend, a fourteen-year-old Native American girl takes on a photographic assignment with her local newspaper to cover events at the Native American summer youth camp. 135 pages. (J/Fic Smith)
Wiles, Deborah. Each Little Bird That Sings
Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto. 247 pages. (J/Fic Wiles)
Williams, Carol. Carolina Autumn
As she begins high school, fourteen-year-old Carolina tries to come to terms with the death of her father and older sister, while dealing with difficult relationships with her mother and best friend and a budding romance with the boy next door. 146 pages. (J/Fic Williams)
Zindel, Paul. A Begonia for Miss Applebaum
Discovering that their beloved former teacher Miss Applebaum is terminally ill, 15-year-old Henry and his friend Zelda accompany her on her excursions to the colorful parts of New York City and join her in confronting death with quiet courage. 180 pages. (J/Fic Zindel)
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