GENERAL DEATH
The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story of Life for All Ages
Leo Buscaglia
J PIC BUS
This book is about love. What it is and what it isn’t. It is about you—and about everybody who has ever reached out to touch the heart of another. Among many other lessons of the heart, Leo Buscaglia reminds us: Love is open arms. If you close your arms about love you will find that you are left holding only yourself
Rabbityness
Jo Empson
J PIC EMP
Rabbit enjoys doing rabbity things, but he also loves un-rabbity things! When Rabbit suddenly disappears, no one knows where he has gone. His friends are desolate. But, as it turns out, Rabbit has left behind some very special gifts for them, to help them discover their own unrabbity talents!
Chester Raccoon and the Acorn Full of Memories
Audrey Penn
J PIC PEN
Chester Raccoon’s good friend Skiddel Squirrel has had an accident and will not be returning – ever. Chester is upset that he won’t get to play with his friend anymore. Mrs. Raccoon suggests that Chester and his friends create some memories of Skiddel, so that they will have good memories when they miss him. Chester, his brother Ronny, and their friends decide to gather at the pond, where they combine their memories and create a touching celebration of their friend’s life.
Where Do People Go When They Die?
Mindy Avra Portnoy
J PIC POR
In this touching narrative, young children ask, “”where do people go when they die?”” Each child asks an adult that they are trust – a father, a mother, a grandfather, an aunt, a teacher – and, although the answers they receive are all different, each reassuring answer leads back to the same simple truth.
The Purple Balloon
Chris Raschka
J PIC RAS
In disarmingly simple and direct language, accompanied by evocative potato print illustrations, Raschka in conjunction with Children’s Hospice International (CHI), creates a moving, sensitive book that is also a phenomenally useful tool to talk about death. The message of the book is clear: talking about dying is hard, dying is harder, but there are many people in your life who can help.
Badger’s Parting Gifts
Susan Varley
J PIC VAR
Badger’s friends are sad when he dies but treasure the memories he left them.
When Dinosaurs Die: A Guide to Understanding Death
Laurie Krasny Brown
J 155.9 B81
The authors explain in simple language the feelings people may have regarding the death of a loved one and the ways to honor the memory of someone who has died.
The Next Place
Warren Hanson
J 263.24 H19
A classic, The Next Place brings gentle verse revealing a safe and welcome destination free from earthly hurts and filled with wonder and peace. A comforting message of hope and a gift of compassion for the bereaved. Exquisite, color illustrations.
DEATH OF A PARENT
The Memory String
Eve Bunting
J PIC BUN
Each button on Laura’s memory string represents a piece of her family history. The buttons Laura cherishes the most belonged to her mother—a button from her prom dress, a white one off her wedding dress, and a single small button from the nightgown she was wearing on the day she died. When the string breaks, Laura’s new stepmother, Jane, is there to comfort Laura and search for a missing button, just as Laura’s mother would have done. But it’s not the same—Jane isn’t Mom.
Her Mother’s Face
Roddy Doyles
J FIC DOYLE
When Siobhan was just three years old, her mother died, leaving Siobhan and her father alone in their house in Dublin. They never talk about her, and now, at ten years old, Siobhan no longer remembers her mother’s face. One day, Siobhan meets a mysterious woman in the park who tells her that to remember her mother, she just needs to look in a mirror. As Siobhan grows older, she sees more and more of her mother’s face in her own reflection. With time, she and her father and her own daughter are able to remember Siobhan’s mother with joy and laughter instead of tears.
DEATH OF A GRANDPARENT
Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs
Tomie dePaola
J PIC DEP
This wonderful generational story, a classic in its own right, celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary in a new, full-color edition, joining the other appealing picture books in which dePaola draws upon his childhood memories.
Ghost wings
Barbara Joosse
J PIC JOO
Set in Mexico amidst the monarch butterflies’ annual migration and during the Days of the Dead, Ghost Wings is the touching story of a little girl whose very best friend is her grandmother. But one spring, Grandmother becomes thin as smoke. When she dies, Papa says, “When you love someone they never really leave.” But to the little girl, Grandmother seems impossibly far away. Who will sing to her? Who will chase the monsters from under her bed? Then, during the Days of the Dead, something extraordinary happens that brings Papa’s words vividly to life.
DEATH OF A PET
Saying Goodbye to Lulu
Corrine Demas
J PIC DEM
A young girl and her spunky dog, Lulu, are faithful companions from the very start. As Lulu ages and slows down, they are unable to do all the things they love to do together-like mucking in streams and playing ball. When the time comes to say goodbye to Lulu, the caring little girl doesn’t know how. She must come to terms with Lulu’s death, and learn how to honor a loved one while moving on with her life.
Tough Boris
Mem Fox
J PIC FOX
Boris von der Borch is a mean, greedy old pirate—tough as nails, through and through, like all pirates. Or is he? When a young boy sneaks onto Boris’s ship, he discovers that even pirates cry.
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney
Judith Viorst
J PIC VIO
In an attempt to overcome his grief, a boy tries to think of the ten best things about his dead cat.
Sammy in the Sky
Barbara Walsh
J PIC WAL
Sammy, the best hound dog in the whole wide world, loves his girl and she loves him. When illness cuts Sammy’s life short, the girl’s family keeps his spirit alive by celebrating his love of chasing wind-blown bubbles, keeping loyal guard at night, and offering his velvety fur for endless pats and tummy scratches.
Good-bye, Sheepie
Robert Burleigh
J 155.93 B92 PIC
A young boy comes to terms with the death of his beloved sheepdog.
FOR OLDER CHILDREN
Bridge to Terabithia
Katherine Paterson
J FIC PATERSON
This Newbery Medal-winning novel by bestselling author Katherine Paterson is a modern classic of friendship and loss. Jess Aarons has been practicing all summer so he can be the fastest runner in the fifth grade. And he almost is, until the new girl in school, Leslie Burke, outpaces him. The two become fast friends and spend most days in the woods behind Leslie’s house, where they invent an enchanted land called Terabithia. One morning, Leslie goes to Terabithia without Jess and a tragedy occurs. It will take the love of his family and the strength that Leslie has given him for Jess to be able to deal with his grief.
Missing May
Cynthia Rylant
J FIC RYLANT
Twelve-year-old Summer, her classmate Cletus, and her grieving Uncle Ob set off across West Virginia in search of a “Small Medium at Large” in fond hopes of reaching Aunt May beyond the grave. Their journey is heartening, funny, and altogether unforgettable.
Milo: Sticky Notes and Brain Freeze
Alan Silberberg
J FIC SILBERBERG
Ever since Milo’s mother died nothing has gone right. Now, instead of the kitchen being full of music, his whole house has been filled with Fog. Nothing’s the same. Not his Dad. Not his sister. And definitely not him. In love with the girl he sneezed on the first day of school and best pals with Marshall, the “One Eyed Jack” of friends, Milo copes with being the new kid (again) as he struggles to survive a school year that is filled with reminders of what his life “used to be.”
Tiger Eyes
Judy Blume
P/YA BLU
After Davey’s father is killed in a hold-up, she and her mother and younger brother visit relatives in New Mexico. Here Davey is befriended by a young man who helps her find the strength to carry on and conquer her fears.
A Summer to Die
Lois Lowry
P/YA LOW
When her family moves to a small house in the country, Meg has a lot to accept. Just as the sisters begin to adjust to their new home, Meg feels that her sister Molly is starting up again by being a real nuisance. But Molly’s constant grouchiness, changing appearance, and other complaints are not just part of a new mood. And the day Molly is rushed to the hospital, Meg has to accept that there is something terribly wrong with her sister. Is it too late for Meg to show what she really feels?
OTHER RECOMMENDATIONS
These books are not included in our current collection but can be requested.
Bear’s Last Journey — Udo Weingelt
The Dead Bird — Margaret Brown Wise
Everett Anderson’s Goodbye — Lucille Clifton
Goodbye Mousie — Robie H. Harris
Remembering Crystal — Sebastian Loth
Rudi’s Pond — Eve Bunting
The Scar — Charlotte Moundlic
Six Is So Much Less Than Seven — Ronald Himler
Someone Special Died — Joan Prestine
A Terrible Thing Happened — Margaret M. Holmes
Kaddish for Grandpa in Jesus’ Name Amen — James Howe
Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children — Bryan Mellonie Page
Old Pig — Margaret Wild
Pearl’s Marigolds for Grandpa — Jane Breskin Zalben
Jim’s Dog Muffins — Miriam Cohen
The Saddest Time — Norma Simon
You Hold Me and I’ll Hold You — Jo Carson
Water bugs and dragonflies: explaining death to young children — Stickney, Doris
Help me say goodbye: activities for helping kids cope when a special person dies — Silverman, Janis
Gentle Willow: a story for children about dying — Mills, Joyce
The boy who didn’t want to be sad — Goldblatt, Rob
The mountains of Tibet — Gerstein, Mordicai
I remember Miss Perry — Brisson, Pat