Resources · Children's books
Let the child lead, the book will meet them where they are. Choose a title to read what other members have shared about reading it with a grieving child.
Patrick Ness
A profound story about grief, fear, and truth (best read together).
Wolf Erlbruch
A startlingly tender meeting between Duck and Death — small, honest, and unexpectedly comforting.
Michael Rosen
Honest, validating, and emotionally intelligent.
Charlie Mackesy
Quiet, hand-lettered wisdom about kindness, fear, and love — a small book that holds an enormous heart.
Oliver Jeffers
A poetic exploration of protecting and reopening the heart.
Britta Teckentrup
A gentle metaphor for remembrance.
Renée Watson
A novel in verse following a girl through grief group, friendship, and the slow return of colour.
Kate DiCamillo
Explores loneliness, healing, and connection.
Katherine Paterson
A classic about friendship, loss, and meaning.
Deborah Wiles
A child living among funerals learns about grief and compassion.
Sharon Creech
Poetry, loss, and creative expression.
Sara Pennypacker
A boy and his fox, separated by war — a luminous story of love, loss, and finding the way home.
Priscilla Cummings
A quiet, powerful novel about guilt, friendship, and finding a way through after tragedy.
Eleanor Coerr
A true, luminous story of courage and hope — folded one paper crane at a time.
Kwame Alexander
A pulse-beat novel in verse about brothers, basketball, and the loss that changes everything.
Aubrey Hartman
A lyrical fable about death, friendship, and the gentle work of saying goodbye.
Jennifer L. Holm
A warm, funny meditation on mortality, science, and the people we don't want to lose.
Dan Gemeinhart
A road-trip story about a girl, her father, and the memory box buried back home.
Shelley Pearsall
A boy's grief and anger find shape in a beautiful, true story of redemption and broken-glass art.
Ali Benjamin
A young girl's search for meaning after a friend's drowning — wide-hearted, scientific, and tender.
Tae Keller
A Newbery-winning blend of Korean folklore and family love that meets loss with magic and courage.
J.R. Becker
A gentle, life-affirming picture book that helps children meet the biggest question with wonder and warmth.
M.H. Clark
A small, lyrical keepsake about love that does not vanish — the kind of book you press into a grieving hand.
Stephanie Seidler
A soft-spoken companion for anyone in the early, tender days after a death.
Susan Varley
A classic about legacy and remembering.
Caron Levis
Beautifully handles anticipatory grief and remembrance.
Missing You Always
A soothing colouring companion for children whose hands need to be busy while their hearts grieve.
Phoebe Wahl
A gentle farm story that meets the loss of a beloved animal with honesty, tears, and tender care.
Pat Schwiebert & Chuck DeKlyen
A timeless modern fable — Grandy stirs her grief like soup, teaching that mourning takes its own time.
Cher Louise Jones
A South African picture book using a burst balloon to name loss in language young hearts can hold.
Todd Parr
Simple, honest, and comforting — especially for pet loss.
Korie Leigh
A gentle, validating picture-guide that lets children describe grief in their own way.
Laurie Krasny Brown & Marc Brown
Clear, honest answers to children's big questions.
Andrea Dorn
A warm, mindful guide that gently walks children through the feelings and questions grief brings.
Annie F. Downs
A heartfelt story for the youngest grievers wondering where someone they love has gone.
Tracy Lambert
A reassuring read-aloud that helps children name sadness and find safe ways to share it.
Cynthia Rylant
Cynthia Rylant
Robie H. Harris
Hans Wilhelm
A boy and his dog grow old together — a quiet classic about love spoken while there's still time.
Patrice Karst
A tender companion to The Invisible String — the bond with a beloved pet never truly breaks.
Adrian Raeside
A gentle, hopeful imagining of where our animals go — perfect for a child missing their friend.
Fred Rogers
Mister Rogers' tender, honest companion for a child grieving a beloved animal.
Gabrielle Zevin
Upper middle grade. An imaginative, tender afterlife story.
Nicholas Allan
Simple and childlike exploration of heaven.
Laura Feldman
A comforting picture book for children who feel a loved one watching over them.
Margaret Wise Brown
A quiet, respectful look at death and ritual.
Kimberly Rae
A soft, faith-rooted reassurance, written from the perspective of a child who has gone ahead.
Lisa Tawn Bergren
A tender parent-and-child conversation that gently answers the biggest questions about heaven with warmth and reassurance.
Polly Zielonka
A tender sibling-centred picture book for families holding the love of a baby who lived only briefly.
Carole Heaney
A quiet true story about signs, faith and the small graces that arrive in the middle of mourning.
Tamara Ellis Smith
A beautifully metaphor-rich picture book that names grief's changing weight with warmth and honesty.
Pat Thomas
Names feelings honestly and gently.
Bryan Mellonie
Explains death as part of life's natural cycle.
Jessica Correnti
A simple, comforting A–Z that gives little ones small words for big feelings.
Patrice Karst
A beloved classic about invisible connections that never break.
Joanna Rowland
A tender keepsake of a story — gathering memories as a quiet way of holding on while letting go.
Cori Doerrfeld
A quiet reminder that presence — not advice — is what truly comforts a hurting child.
Steve Herman
A gentle rhyming companion for very young children meeting sadness for the first time.