Children's Books about Death, Loss, and Grieving

By Gwen Glazer, Librarian
July 21, 2017

Many children must face the terminal illness and death of pets, grandparents, other friends and family members, and more. Even children who aren’t directly dealing with loss or grieving often still have questions about the concepts.

Our children's book experts put together a list of picture books on the topic. It’s always a good idea—especially for sensitive emotional issues such as these—to read through a book yourself before you read it to a child to make sure you’re comfortable, but we believe these sensitive and straightforward portrayals can help kids of many ages.

Thanks to several library staff members for their suggestions: Liz Lipari, Peggy Salwen, Clarissa Cooke, Elizabeth Covington, Leah Labrecque, Karen McGoohan, Lauren Younger, and Jenny Rosenoff.