15 Picture Books About Grief, Death and Dying
Unfortunately we've had a few lessons in grief, death and dying lately.
My husband and I have been lucky enough to have several of our grandparents and great aunts and uncles around for so much of our lives. Unfortunately no one can live forever and with many of them in their late 80's and early 90's we've had to start saying good bye to them. It's certainly not easy and while my boys are starting to understand that it's just a fact of life I still thought it might be helpful for them if we were to read a few stories about grief, death and dying.
My boys actually amaze me by how well they have taken these loses. I'll never forget a couple of years ago when I lost my grandfather and was crying at the funeral my oldest leaned toward me and asked why I was crying. He assured me that great granddad had been very old, very sick, and that it was just his time to go. I remember thinking it was a pretty mature view to have and gently explained that I was crying because I was going to miss my grandfather. So he rubbed my back and gave me a little hug.
I reminded all of my boys that it's only normal to miss those who have passed and that sometimes it makes us sad.
I'm pretty sure they're taking all of this a whole lot better than I am! Loosing three grandparents in under 6 months has been quite hard on my husband and I.
Here are some of the books I have found that deal with grief, death and dying. I'm sure we won't read them all but I wanted to have a few on hand just in case the boys had questions.
1. That Summer
2. When Your Grandparent Dies
3. Gentle Willow
4. Missing Mommy
5. Life and I
6. Is Grandpa in Heaven Forever?
7. Lifetimes
8. I miss you
9. Saying Goodbye to Lulu
10. I'll Always Love You
11. Always Remember
12. Rudy's Pond
14. Someone I Loved Died
My husband and I have been lucky enough to have several of our grandparents and great aunts and uncles around for so much of our lives. Unfortunately no one can live forever and with many of them in their late 80's and early 90's we've had to start saying good bye to them. It's certainly not easy and while my boys are starting to understand that it's just a fact of life I still thought it might be helpful for them if we were to read a few stories about grief, death and dying.
My boys actually amaze me by how well they have taken these loses. I'll never forget a couple of years ago when I lost my grandfather and was crying at the funeral my oldest leaned toward me and asked why I was crying. He assured me that great granddad had been very old, very sick, and that it was just his time to go. I remember thinking it was a pretty mature view to have and gently explained that I was crying because I was going to miss my grandfather. So he rubbed my back and gave me a little hug.
I reminded all of my boys that it's only normal to miss those who have passed and that sometimes it makes us sad.
I'm pretty sure they're taking all of this a whole lot better than I am! Loosing three grandparents in under 6 months has been quite hard on my husband and I.
Here are some of the books I have found that deal with grief, death and dying. I'm sure we won't read them all but I wanted to have a few on hand just in case the boys had questions.
1. That Summer
2. When Your Grandparent Dies
3. Gentle Willow
4. Missing Mommy
5. Life and I
6. Is Grandpa in Heaven Forever?
7. Lifetimes
8. I miss you
9. Saying Goodbye to Lulu
10. I'll Always Love You
11. Always Remember
12. Rudy's Pond
14. Someone I Loved Died
15. Ida, Always
Linking Up With:
.png)
I love that there are books about death and dying for littles. What a great comfort to scoop them up in our laps and share the story together.
ReplyDeleteMe too!
DeleteThank you for this list of books! I should get a few as we are a few years away from having death of the grandparents.
ReplyDeleteYou're welcome!
DeleteI cannot even tell you how much I love this list. Our sons took my grandmothers death hard and what a comfort these can be.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteThese books are great - it is a hard subject. My own grandmother is almost 91 and I often wonder whether my kids understand about the fact she may not be arounf much longer. Sarah #fabfridaypost
ReplyDeleteIt is such a tough subject. My grandmother was 92 when she passed away this year and both of my husband's grandfathers were 91. It's so amazing that my kids and I got to have them around for so long and we did start talking about long before they actually passed away.
Delete