Children’s Books About Grief
Help children understand, navigate, and manage the complicated feelings surrounding loss.
Grief and loss are complex emotions that children (and adults) often struggle to comprehend and express. Picture books can serve as gentle and compassionate guides to help kids navigate the emotions and challenges associated with losing a loved one or going through a hardship. These stories may offer solace, understanding, and tender support during times of bereavement.
What is Bibliotherapy?
Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic approach that utilizes books to address, explore, and alleviate emotional, behavioral, psychological, and social challenges. The power of storytelling allows kids to examine those challenges from the safe space within the pages of a book.
Through well-crafted narratives and relatable characters, kids can:
see their emotions mirrored back to them
learn applicable problem-solving skills
step into the shoes of different characters to gain insights into various perspectives
practice emotional articulation
observe and internalize the ability to persevere in the face of adversity
gain an appreciation of human diversity
Books can help us make sense of the world and the act of simply reading a story with a child has immense value. If they are up for it, you could also engage kids in a guided reflection exercise at the end of the story with a few simple questions:
Which character is most similar to you? How?
Which page do you like best? What do you like about it?
Is there a problem in this story? Does it get fixed?
Recommended Children’s Books About Grief:
A book that highlights: death, grief processing, & resilience.
“An honest and simple exploration of death and grief for kids 4 to 8. With playful illustrations by a therapist-turned-artist, Bird is Dead uses humor to make death a more approachable topic.
Bird is dead. Yesterday he was alive. How do the other birds know? On your back + feet up = dead. Some of the birds cry a little. And that’s alright. Crying together can be nice. When it’s time to give Bird a funeral, they reminisce about him, and then have tea with worms (or cake, if you don’t like worms).
Sensitive and humorous, Bird is Dead provides kids and adults with a space to talk about death on their own terms.”
A book that highlights: grief processing, loss, & resilience.
“From the perspective of a young child, author Joanna Rowland artfully describes what it's like to remember and grieve a loved one who has died. The child in the story wonders if she will forget the person who has gone. Other days I wonder if I'll ever stop feeling sad you are gone.
The main character creates a memory box to keep mementos and written memories of her loved one to help with the grieving process. Throughout the narrative, the child's feelings are acknowledged, allowed, and assured that feelings are normal and healthy to express. Heartfelt and comforting, The Memory Box helps children, parents, educators, therapists, and social workers talk about this very difficult topic together.
Recommended and adopted by parenting blogs, bereavement support groups, hospice centers, social service agencies, military library services, church groups, and educators, The Memory Box offers a very simple approach to overcoming loss, separation, and disappointment while also giving support and encouragement that children easily understand.”
A book that highlights: sibling loss, grief, family, & resilience.
“Ethan. Ethan. Ethan. Sarah misses her adored big brother with all her heart. She wants to celebrate all the fun times she and her parents spent with him. But ever since Ethan died, Mommy and Daddy won’t mention him. Sarah can’t even say his name without upsetting them. Why don’t they want to remember Ethan?
Includes a note with recommendations of what to say and how to help children after the death of a loved one.”
A book that highlights: grandparent loss, grief, & resilience.
“Every window at the hospital faces dull, gray buildings―except the one in Grandpa’s room. Grandpa can see the ocean every day! When Daria visits, she and Grandpa look out at the beach, hoping they will build sandcastles and fly kites together again.
Grandpa’s Window addresses the grieving process, both as a family member approaches the end of life as well as after death. The book includes a note for adults by Dr. Sharie Coombes, child and family psychotherapist, about how to support children who are grieving the loss of a loved one”
A book that highlights: infant loss, stillborn, & grief.
“A child eagerly waits for their younger sibling to be born. They help Daddy decorate the room, pick out toys with Grandma and build a sled with Grandpa. Auntie and Uncle are excited too, and the narrator helps them to pick out an exciting book and prepare a magic trick to show the baby. When Mommy and Daddy come back from the hospital, there is no baby with them ― only a dark cloud of sadness.
The child doesn’t understand where the new baby is, until their parents explain that the baby died at birth. The narrator’s family explains that it’s rare, and it’s no one’s fault. Daddy and Mommy are very sad, but they also say that―little by little―they will find their smiles again. Although the child never got the chance to get to know their sibling, they have saved them a special place in their heart.
A quiet, thoughtful look at stillbirth and grief told through the eyes of a child. Includes a list of support organizations for children and families.”
A book that highlights: loss, resilience, & repair.
“Why won't Benny help? Penny found a dead salamander, but her brother Benny is refusing to help her bury it. Is it silly to hold a service for Little Sallie, or could this tiny salamander mean something more to the siblings? Geisel Award winner Geoffrey Hayes shares this gentle tale of a child's early encounter with death.”
A book that highlights: loss, grief, & resilience.
“Two bunnies and a cat live happily together in a beautiful garden. But when the big bunny passes away, the little bunny is unsure how to fill the void she left behind. A strange dream prompts her to begin asking questions: Why do the creatures we love have to die, and where do we go when we die? How come life works this way? With the wisdom of the cat to guide her, the little bunny learns that missing someone is a way of keeping them close. And together they discover that the big bunny is a part of everything around them -- the grass, the air, the leaves -- for the world is a garden of creatures.”
A book that highlights: breast cancer, transition, hope, & resilience.
“After Mom and Dad tell Janie and Jeffrey that Mom has Cancer, the whole family goes to the doctor to ask questions. "Is Mom better yet?" Jeffrey asked. "Not yet," she said. "But we're working very hard to make her better-probably by pumpkin time." That gave Janie an idea...the family plants a vegetable garden. As the garden grows, Mom's treatment progresses...surgery, chemo, head-shaving and other side effects, radiation...and when it's all done, there are healthy pumpkins and a healthy Mom!”
A book that highlights: sibling relationships, loss, grief, & resilience.
“Ben’s Flying Flowers beautifully characterizes a child’s common emotional reactions when a sibling dies and pays specific attention to the child’s experience by way of explanation, imagery, and healing messages. In Ben's Flying Flowers, Emily learns that expressing her feelings and asking questions about Ben’s death can be helpful, as can doing normal every day activities. She comes to understand that remembering happier times with Ben soothes sad feelings and provides much comfort to her and her parents.
A Note to Parents describes the psychological issues that children confront when a sibling dies, and offers practical strategies and guidance to parents for navigating the child and their family through the grieving process.”
A book that highlights: communication, moving, loss, resilience, & long-distance friendship.
“For Cora and her best friend, Shelly, every day is a beach day.
When they get home from school, the girls shimmy into their swimsuits, grab their beach bags and buckets, and race to the water. Then their sandcastle-building ritual begins!
But one day Shelly announces she’ll soon be moving to the city, and suddenly Cora doesn’t feel like building sandcastles anymore. What’s the point when they’ll just wash away?
With gentle, heartfelt prose, author-illustrator Ellie Peterson explores the difficult feelings of loss and sadness that come when a friend moves away. Young readers will see that with the right tools―and a willingness to build again tomorrow―who’s to say the things you love can’t last forever?”
A book that highlights: wild fires, loss, & community.
“When Simone is awakened by her mom as a wildfire threatens their home, it is the beginning of a life-changing journey. On their way to take shelter in a high school gym, the family passes firefighters from a prison unit battling the fire. Simone’s mom tells her that when she was a girl in Viet Nam, she was forced to evacuate her home after a flood.
Joined by other children sheltering in the gym, Simone, a budding artist, encourages everyone to draw as a way to process their situation. After a few days, Simone and her mom are able to return to their home, which is fortunately still standing, and her outlook has changed. As Simone begins creating a piece of art with one of her new friends, she realizes that even though they are young, they can dream and work together for a more sustainable future.
With a poetic, haunting family story by esteemed author Viet Thanh Nguyen and gorgeous art from illustrator Minnie Phan, this powerful tale introduces an unforgettable young heroine who awakens to a new role fighting for her community and for the future of the planet.”
A book that highlights: grandparent loss, grief, and resilience.
"A girl remembers her grandfather fondly in this heartwarming, comforting picture book about coping with loss.
The memories of a beloved grandpa bring sadness but also solace to the young girl in this glowing and nourishing book. We see the close and lively relationship they shared and all the ways she has been enriched by knowing him—the ways he will always be there for her. This book is just right for starting necessary conversations about grief, and for paying tribute to the loved ones we’ve lost.
When I miss you dearly, which is almost every day, I know your love is with me and will never go away.”
A book that highlights: depression, healing, & finding purpose.
“The healing power of community is tenderly expressed in this picture book for fans of A Sick Day for Amos McGee and Last Stop on Market Street.
Kindly Cecil has a broken heart, but when the kids in his neighborhood start asking him to fix their valuables—a music box, a watch, a stuffed elephant—he gradually finds that he knows just how to do this mending. And in return, his circle of new friends offers the mending that his own heart needs.
This gentle, kindhearted story brings the generations of a community together to sustain and enrich one another, and it beautifully showcases the value of fixing things―and loving their history―rather than quickly discarding them.”
