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Last updated December 22, 2021
What's Heaven?
Shriver, Maria.
After her great-grandmother's death, a young girl learns about heaven by asking her mother all kinds of questions.
Check AvailabilityA Dog Like Jack
DiSalvo-Ryan, DyAnne.
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.
Check AvailabilityThe Memory String
Bunting, Eve
While still grieving for her mother and unable to accept her stepmother, a girl clings to the memories represented by forty-three buttons on a string.
Check AvailabilityBluebird Summer
Hopkinson, Deborah.
Gramps's farm isn't the same after Grandma's death, but slowly Mags and Cody work to recreate her spirit by bringing back some of the things she loved.
Check AvailabilitySomeone Special Died
Prestine, Joan Singleton.
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.
Check AvailabilitySaying Goodbye To Lulu
Demas, Corinne.
When her dog Lulu dies, a girl grieves but then continues with her life.
Check AvailabilityDeath In A Nut
Maddern, Eric.
When Jack meets Old Man Death coming up the beach to his cottage, he knows at once what's up. "You're not taking my mother!" he cries, and piles into Death with his fists. With each punch, Death gets smaller, until Jack can squeeze him into a hazelnut shell. Jack throws the nut out to sea and goes home -- but then the trouble begins...How jack discovered that without Death there can be no Life is delightfully retold by Eric Maddern, while Paul Hess's artwork gives a glorious comic lift to a thoughtful story.
Check AvailabilityThank You, Grandpa
Plourde, Lynn.
On her many walks with her grandfather, a young girl learns to appreciate life and deal with death.
Check AvailabilityOur Tree Named Steve
Zweibel, Alan.
In a letter to his children, a father recounts memories of the role Steve, the tree in their front yard, has played in their lives.
Check AvailabilityJellybeans
Ommen, Sylvia van.
Two friends, a rabbit and a cat, speculate about what heaven will be like as they enjoy a visit to the park.
Check AvailabilityRemembering Grandpa
Krishnaswami, Uma
When Grandma comes down with a "bad case of sadness" one year after Grandpa's death, Daysha collects objects that will remind her grandmother of Daysha's grandfather.
Check AvailabilityThe Forever Dog
Cochran, Bill
Mike and his dog Corky plan to be best friends forever, so when Corky becomes sick and dies, Mike is angry about the broken promise.
Check AvailabilityThe Purple Balloon
Raschka, Christopher.
Easy-to-read text reveals that dying is hard work, for the old and especially the young, and how good it is that so many people help when a person dies, from medical staff to clergy and friends to family members.
Check AvailabilityI Miss You
Thomas, Pat
Easy-to-read text reveals that dying is hard work, for the old and especially the young, and how good it is that so many people help when a person dies, from medical staff to clergy and friends to family members.
Check AvailabilityThe Invisible String
Karst, Patrice.
When Liza and Jeremy run to their mother during a scary storm, she comforts them by telling them about the Invisible String, which connects people who love each other no matter where they are and means that they are never alone.
Check AvailabilityThe Heart And The Bottle
Jeffers, Oliver.
After safeguarding her heart in a bottle hung around her neck, a girl finds the bottle growing heavier and her interest in things around her becoming smaller.
Check AvailabilitySammy In The Sky
Walsh, Barbara
A little girl tells about her special pet, Sammy, "the best hound dog in the whole world," and how, after he becomes sick and dies, she comes to know the truth of her mother's words, that Sammy's spirit is everywhere.
Check AvailabilityThe Scar
Moundlic, Charlotte.
When his mother dies, a little boy is angry at his loss but does everything he can to hold onto the memory of her scent, her voice, and the special things she did for him, even as he tries to help his father and grandmother cope.
Check AvailabilityStones For Grandpa
Londner, Renee.
After a year of missing his grandfather and remembering things they did together, a young boy and his family unveil Grandpa's tombstone, place stones on it, and share stories, knowing the memories will never be lost.
Check AvailabilityMy Father's Arms Are A Boat
Lunde, Stein Erik
Unable to sleep, a young boy climbs into his father's arms and asks about birds, foxes, and whether his mother will ever awaken, then under a starry sky, the father provides clear answers and assurances.
Check AvailabilityMissing Mommy
Cobb, Rebecca.
Daddy comforts and reassures a very young boy after Mommy dies.
Check AvailabilitySally Goes To Heaven
Huneck, Stephen.
A beloved dog dies and goes to Heaven where she lives happily and helps to find her family on earth a new pet.
Check AvailabilityBoats For Papa
Bagley, Jessixa
Buckley and his mother cope with the loss of their father/husband by sending small wooden boats, built by Buckley, off into the ocean.
Check AvailabilityWhat Happens When A Loved One Dies?
Roberts, Jillian
Whether children are experiencing grief and loss for the first time or simply curious, it can be difficult to know how to talk to them about death. Using questions posed in a child's voice and answers that start simply and become more in-depth, this book allows adults to guide the conversation to a natural and reassuring conclusion. Additional questions at the back of the book allow for further discussion. Child psychologist Dr. Jillian Roberts designed the Just Enough series to empower parents/caregivers to start conversations with young ones about difficult or challenging subject matter.
Check AvailabilityIda, Always
Levis, Caron
A polar bear grieves over the loss of his companion. Based on the real-life Gus and Ida of New York City's Central Park Zoo.
Check AvailabilityBenny And Penny In How To Say Goodbye
Hayes, Geoffrey
When their salamander friend dies, mouse siblings Benny and Penny learn how to say goodbye.
Check AvailabilityThe Dead Bird
Brown, Margaret Wise
When they find a dead bird, a group of children bury it in the woods, sing a song to it, and put flowers on the grave.
Check AvailabilityBig Cat, Little Cat
Cooper, Elisha
A moving tale about friendship, new beginnings, and cats"--
Check AvailabilityBertolt
Goldstyn, Jacques
A boy who knows he is not like other people prefers to be by himself or with his best friend, an oak tree he calls Bertolt, and when the tree dies he must find a way to deal with the fact.
Check AvailabilityThe Funeral
James, Matt
Although Norma does not understand all the rituals that happen when she attends a funeral with her family, she does enjoy playing with her cousin and feels the deceased would have liked the funeral.
Check AvailabilityA Stone For Sascha
Becker, Aaron
A young girl, still reeling from her dog's death, finds solace while picking up stones on the beach during her family's vacation.
Check AvailabilityOcean Meets Sky
Fan, Terry
A little boy builds a ship to honor his late grandfather and sets sail for the magical place where ocean meets sky from his grandfather's stories"--
Check AvailabilityThe Rough Patch
Lies, Brian
Farmer Evan and his dog do everything together and, especially, in the garden but when his dog passes away Evan lets his garden fill with weeds until a pumpkin vine brings new hope.
Check AvailabilityDeath Is Stupid
Higginbotham, Anastasia
This exploration of grief and mourning recognizes the anger and confusion that a child feels around death while offering possibilities for celebrating life and love. This is the second book in the series, Ordinary Terrible Things, following the first installation, Divorce is the Worst"--
Check AvailabilityAlways Remember
Meng, Cece
When Old Turtle dies and is taken back by the sea, his friends remember that he was a wonderful teacher and friend who made his world a better place.
Check AvailabilityLifetimes
Mellonie, Bryan
Briefly describes the beginning and end of life for plants, animals, insects, and people.
Check AvailabilityThe Sour Cherry Tree
Hrab, Naseem
After her grandfather's death, a young girl explores her baba bazorg's house. As the girl wanders through the house, almost idly, her baba bazorg's house stands in for the man himself, with each object she describes standing as a touchstone to a memory, and each memory serving as a window into the relationship between the child and her grandfather. As she looks through its rooms, the things she sees and the object she touches bring to life memories of the man she knew, and also the man she didn't know. This isn't a book that seeks to explain death and dying, or a book about the experience of more formal customs around death, like Matt James' The Funeral. What it is, is both strikingly whimsical and matter-of-fact, which is highlighted by what we think is one of the best first lines of any picture book we've read: "I bit my Mom on the toe this morning." It also is wonderfully centred on the experiences of the little girl--
Check AvailabilityFox
Thomas, Isabel
Fox teaches her cubs to survive in the wild, until one day she dies. Her body goes back to earth and grass and air, nourishing the world around her, showing that death is also a beginning"--
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