Books for Children About Death and Dying
Author	Title	Description	Date	Age	Pa-per?	Pg	Publisher
Aliki	The Two of Them	The relationship between a young girl and her grandfather.	1987	4-8		32	William Morrow
Astor, Cynthia	A Song For Cecilia Fantini	When her beloved music teacher dies Emmaline searches for ways to keep her memories alive. The adults she seeks out help her find ways to remember and assure her that the gifts she received from her teacher will never fade.	1997	6-12	H	34	H. J. Kramer
Barner, Bob	To Everything	Based on the book of Ecclesiastes, this book provides for a discussion of cycles and feelings.	1998	2-6	H	32	Chronicle Books
Bontzer, Etan	What Is Death?	Introduces children to the concept of death and gives examples of the customs and beliefs from different religions and cultures.	1999	4-9	H	32	Veronica Lane Books
Breebaart, Joeri and Piet	When I Die: Will I Get Better?	A five and a half year old boy tries to understand the death of his younger brother.	1993	All	H	30	Peter Bedrick Books
Brown, Laurene Krasny	When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death	A forthright approach addressing children’s fears and curiosity about death.	1996	4-6	P	32	Life, Brown and Company
Brown, Margaret Wise	The Dead Bird	Children find a dead bird in the forest and decide to say good bye.	1979	4-8	P	48	Harper Collins
Buscaglia, Leo	The Fall of Freddie the Leaf	A gentle parable to explain the delicate balance of life and death.		All	H	32	Little Brown.
Eve Bunting.	Rudi's Pond	The young narrator's best friend, Rudi, is very ill and its hard for her to understand. When Rudi dies, the narrator and other children in school build a pond near a big oak tree to remember him. Based on a true story, this insightful book will help young readers deal with loss.	1999	5-8	H	32	Clarion Books
Gelman, Rabbi Marc and Hartman, Monsignor Thomas	Lost & Found: A Kid's Book for Living Through Loss	A heartening book that reminds us how to keep hope alive when times are rough and shows us how loss is a very important part of living.	1999	8+	H	176	William Morrow and Company
Gootman, Marilyn E.	When A Friend Dies: A Book for Teens about Grieving & Healing	This book provides understanding and advice for teens who are grieving the death of a friend.	1994	11+	p	120	Free Spirit Publishing
Joslin, Mary	The Goodbye Boat	With simple, thoughtful text, this book explores the pain and grief of saying goodbye to someone who has died and opens the door for discussion about what happens when someone dies.	1999	All	h	28	Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Kadono, Eiko	Grandpa's Soup	After grandma dies, grandpa is too sad to do anything more than sit all day. Then one day he realizes he misses grandma’s soup. Though each batch he makes is bigger than the last, he hardly gets to taste it as he entertains unexpected visitors hungry for soup. Grandpa discovers that sharing with friends is the best cure for loneliness	1999	2-6	h	32	William J. Eerdman Publishers
Kay, Alan	The Red in My Father's Beard		1992	10-12			Tora Aura
Lanton, Sandy	Daddys Chair	A young boy learns to deal with the death of his father. Illustrates shiva.	1991	5–10	h	32	Kar-Ben Copies
Liss-Levinson, Nechama	When a Grandparent Dies	Part journal, part workbook, this book will help children deal with shiva and the year beyond.	1995	7-11	h	48	Jewish Lights
Mellonie, Bryan and Ingpen, Robert	Lifetimes: A Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children	Explains death to young children by talking about the lifetimes of plants, animals, and people.	1983	3-8	p	40	Bantam Books
Miles, Miska	Annie and the Old One	A story about a Navajo girl and her grandmother that explains death in a beautiful way.	1971	6+	p	44	Little, Brown
Newman, Leslea	Too Far Away to Touch	Zoe’s favorite uncle, Leonard, has AIDS. He takes her to the planetarium and explains that the stars are too far a way to touch but close enough to see. During a nighttime trip to the beach he reassures her that when he dies he will always be there for her in her memories. A special story of the enduring nature of love.	1995	5-9	p	40	Canon Books
Nye, Naomi Shihab	What have You Lost?	An anthology of exceptional insightful poetry that ponders the things we lose and find.	1999	12+	h	208	William Morrow
Pomerantz, Barbara	Bubby, Me and Memories		1983				UAHC Press.
Romain, Trevor	What On Earth Do You Do When Someone Dies?	A book that talks directly to kids about what death is and what it means.	1999	5–10	p	64	Free Spirit Publishing
Rosen, Michael	A Thanksgiving Wish	Thanksgiving is Bubbe’s special holiday, with food she begins cooking a month ahead of time. But for Amanda, the best part of the holiday is right before bedtime, when Bubbe lets her choose a wishbone for a Thanksgiving wish. When Bubbe passes away, Amanda wonders if Thanksgiving will ever be the same	1999	6-10	h	32	Scholastic, Inc
Sgouros, Charissa	A Pillow for My Mom	Unique in its simplicity but profound in its implications, this story allows readers to find their own level of meaning and provides reassurance to face what is beyond their control.	1998	4-6	h	32	Houghton Mifflin Company
Sofer, Batara	Shalom, Haver: Goodbye, Friend	A moving tribute to Yitzhak Rabin and a sensitive way to discuss loss.	1995	4-8	h	48	Kar-Ben Copies
Sonsino, Rifat and Syme, Daniel B.	What Happens After I Die? Jewish Views of Life After Death	Several different Jewish views to the question or whether there is life after death.		12+	p	148	UAHC Press.
Spero, Moshe Halevi	Saying Goodbye To Grandma. Saying Goodbye To Grandpa	Stories that help children explore the range of feelings that come up when a grandparent dies. Present a traditional view of Jewish death and bereavement rituals.	1997	5-10	h	64	Pitspopany Press
Stein, Sara Bonnett	About Dying; An Open Family Book for Parents and Children Together	A book that provides a shared experience for parents and children. Simple text to be read to children is accompanied by adult text for further explanations	1974	3-7	p	46	Walker and Company
Techner, David and Hirt-Manheimer, Judith.	A Candle for Grandpa: A Guide to the Jewish Funeral for Children and Parents	A thorough and sensitive explanation of the Jewish traditions surrounding death.	1993	5-10	h	32
Varley, Susan	Badger's Parting Gifts	When Badger dies his friends console themselves by remembering the gifts he gave them.	1984	5-8	p	32	Mulberry Books
Viorst, Judith	The Tenth Good Thing About Barney	When Barney the cat dies, a family tries to think of good things to say about him.	1971	6-10	p	32	Simon & Schuster
Wilhelm, Hans	I’ll Always Love You	A boy comes to terms with the death of his dog.	1988	4-8	p	32	Random House
Wood, Douglas	Grandad’s Prayers of the Earth	The author of' "Old Turtle" and the illustrator of "When Jessie Came Across the Sea" join together to create a very wise and touching book about prayer, loss and wisdom	1999	6+	h	32	Candlewick Press
Zalben, Jane Breskin	Pearl's Marigolds for Grandpa	Pearl learns about the traditions of Shiva when her grandfather dies.	1997	3-8	h	32	Simon & Schuster