How Do I Talk to My Kids About Death and Grieving?

This soft and heartfelt story about a girl who has lost a loved one is a great tool to use with kids experiencing loss. With resources for caregivers in the back and a comforting story about remembering those who are gone, this book is an excellent choice to help young kids cope with missing a loved one and their worries about forgetting those they’ve lost. 

While this book isn’t exclusively about grief, it’s still a great option to help comfort those who are grieving. All about the unbreakable connection between people, the connection of love, this picture book is a beautiful story about a mother explaining to her two kids that they’re all connected by an invisible string that cannot ever be severed. 

A soft and sweet story about a boy going through a sad time in his life trying to move forward, The Rabbit Listened will capture the hearts of readers and remind them of the kindness and empathy that is shown by simply listening when someone is going through a hard time. It also takes the time to validate the variety of emotions people might be feeling during sad or hard times like when they’ve lost a loved one.  

All about losing a friend, this is the perfect gentle story about friendship, growing up together, and saying goodbye to those you love. Full of both love and loss, it can help make sense of the grief that comes alongside death. While it does focus on a pet, it can be used to talk about the loss of a person as well.  

Rabbityness is one of our childrens book buyer’s favorite picture books, especially for this topic. All about a rabbit whose friends are in despair after Rabbit disappears, this book is perfect for kids undergoing any kind of loss. Celebrating both individuality and the things one leaves behind, this picture book is lovely and full of positivity, even while discussing hard topics.  

This story of grief, imagination, and determination, The Thing About Jellyfish will capture the hearts of readers while also capturing the effects grief can have on a person. Suzy’s best friend died in a drowning accident, and Suzy becomes convinced that it must have been caused by a rare jellyfish sting. She embarks on a journey to prove her theory, fixating on jellyfish and escaping into her imagination. It’s a heartachingly beautiful story with love and friendship at its core.  

Perfect for fans of Percy Jackson, this first novel in the Tristan Strong trilogy tackles survivor’s guilt head on and infuses African American folk heroes and West African gods in a vivid world with characters that will make kids laugh while also taking them on a journey of healing and strength. The story follows Tristan Strong who’s struggling with grief ever since he failed to save his best friend when they were in a bus accident together. With heart, determination, and the reminder that strength isn’t just physical but is also continuing to love and live life after heartbreak, Tristan Strong Punches a Hole in the Sky is a gem of a book.  

This remarkable story tackles grief in a way that also feels like a warm hug. It’s been five years since Coyote and her dad, Rodeo, have been home. Five years since her mom and two sisters died in a car crash. When she discovers that the park in her old neighborhood is being demolished, a park she and her mom and sisters buried a treasured memory box, she devises a plan to have her dad drive thousands of miles in four days back to the park without him realizing where they’re going. A story of love, memory, and friendship, this book will linger in your mind long after you’ve finished. 

A story of a boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders, The Stars Beneath Our Feet is a beautiful story of creative outlets in the midst of both grief and violence. Lolly and his mom are reeling after the death of his older brother in a gang-related shooting, and when Lolly is given two huge bags of Legos, but without the instructions he normally follows meticulously, he has to figure out what to do with them. With pressures to join a “crew” mounting with the violence of his neighborhood, he finds his escape in building a fantastical Lego city. A must-read novel, Lolly will capture your heart and you’ll be rooting for him from start to finish.  

The Shape of Thunder is a poignant yet incredibly powerful read about friendship, grief and the complex ways in which we cope with emotions and pave our paths to peace. Warga gently navigates heavy topics in a way that will resonate with young readers and spark important conversations about grief, gun violence, prejudice, mental health and much more, all woven into a captivating and heartfelt story about two friends. 

This BookTok sensation has been one we can’t keep on our shelves. Simultaneously devastating and uplifting, this is the story of two people who live a lifetime in one single day, their death day. A reminder that love and loss go hand in hand, this story of friendship, love, life, and death, will capture the hearts of everyone who picks it up. And with the prequel coming this October, you can escape back into this lovely and heartbreaking world once again. coming this October, you can escape back into this lovely and heartbreaking world once again.  

All at once whimsical and shattering, You’ve Reached Sam is a story of love and goodbyes. Julie has a lot of plans for her future, and many of them center around a future with her boyfriend, Sam. So, when Sam dies and everything changes, Julie’s devastated and skips his funeral and tries to get rid of all reminders of him. When she calls Sam’s cell phone in a moment of desperation to hear his voice, she’s shocked when Sam answers the phone. Their temporary connection has her falling for him all over again, and saying goodbye becomes harder than ever. This book is a beautiful and moving story full of grief and moving forward.  

Southern Black Girl Magic meets Arthurian Legend in this unputdownable contemporary fantasy from newcomer Tracy Deonn. Rife with edge-of-your-seat suspense, lush world-building and intricate plot details, Legendborn also adeptly weaves in important commentary on the history of racism in the American South and the effects of that trauma and grief today. Simply put: This book is one of my absolute favorite books EVER, and I promise that it is one of those books that will put you in a book hangover when you finish (and what better time to read it than with its sequel coming in November)! 

This is a stunning and powerful read about grief and guilt in which Jay discovers his Filipino cousin was murdered as part of President Duterte’s war on drugs. As everyone else in the family refuses to talk about it, Jay changes his plans of a chill final semester of his senior year to travel to the Philippines to uncover the truth about what happened to his cousin, including the part he played in it.  

Robin Benway has crafted a gut-wrenching and powerful read about family, love and grief. Told in reverse chronological order, A Year to the Day is a must-read for fans of Far From the Tree. It starts a year after Leo lost her sister, Nina, in a car accident and works backwards as Leo fights to remember what happened that night. The one person who remembers every detail, her sister’s boyfriend East, refuses to tell her despite the friendship they forge through their shared grief. This book will capture hearts and will linger in your mind long after you’ve finished it.  

This book is one of those wonderful summer reads that is simultaneously light-hearted while dealing with the heartbreak of grief. Another BookTok sensation, The Summer of Broken Rules follows Meredith as she returns to Martha’s Vineyard for the first time after her sister’s death 18 months prior. Determined to reconnect and honor her sister’s legacy in the family tradition of a game of assassin, Meredith forms an alliance with a cute groomsman only to find that her heart and the game are at stake.  

Similar to You’ve Reached Sam in its speculative twist and the opportunity for a second goodbye, Early Departures is a moving story of love, death, grief, and friendship. When Jamal’s best friend Q is reanimated after he dies, there’s a lot of things Q doesn’t know. Like why Jamal stopped talking to him two years prior, that Jamal tried to save him, or the fact that he’s about to die permanently, and his mom wants to keep it that way. So, Jamal has to figure out how to fix everything without letting Q know the truth.  

I read this book on a plane not knowing I’d be fighting back tears the whole time, and it was absolutely soul-crushing and heart-rendering in the best of ways. When Carver texted his three best friends to see where they were, the last thing he expected was for that text message to lead to their death. As Carver tries to move forward with the crippling guilt of his part in the accident, he finds that it’s especially hard with the potential for a criminal investigation and the families of his friends asking for a “goodbye day” with Carver to share their memories and say a proper farewell to their kids.