Books to Help Your Grieving Child: Picture Books about Loss

BySarah Mackenzie Picture Books

When you have a grieving child, it can be incredibly difficult to find words of comfort. Stories, of course, are one of the best ways to connect with our kids. But when your child is suffering from loss, they can also provide hope and comfort.

Whether your child is grieving the loss of a pet or a loved one, remember that stories can be strong medicine for dark days.

No matter how much we long to protect our children from sorrow, loss touches all of us.

Here are picture books to help you weather the storm. We hope this list offers you and  your children a way through the sorrow, and a comfort for grieving hearts.

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Please pass this list on to others who may need it.

Other booklists you might like…

(The featured image in this post is from Tomie dePoala’s Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs)

24 Comments

  2. “Always Remember” by Cece Meng is a comforting and sweet story about an animal who loses its friend, this picture book is also a good choice for young children coping with loss.

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  3. Do you have any book suggestions for the tween set? Our family has had two losses this month and my 12 year old daughter is having nightmares.

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  5. Sarah,
    My cousin, Kerry St.Laurent, wrote and illustrated a beautiful book called Halo: A Story About Heaven. I’d love for you to read it!
    Amazon’s write up: Halo: A Story about Heaven is a 36-page picture book about faith and healing. The main character, Jessi, is visited by a majestic white dog who takes her on an adventure to help her understand and cope with loss. Although the story calls the afterlife “heaven,” Halo is otherwise non-denominational with broad spiritual undertones, and draws from near-death accounts from all over the globe. This story focuses on rich imagery, an inclusive and loving point of view, and a narrative that can stand on its own. The goal is for Halo to be less educational and more an open-ended source of comfort and inspiration that can help foster dialogues in which adults can answer questions about death and spirituality as they see fit.

    =)

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  6. For grown-ups experiencing loss (relationship, job, goal, loved one) the best book I’ve known is “How to Survive the Loss of a Love.” It really teaches about the natural stages and process of grief in succinct bits of practical advice.

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  7. The best book I’ve encountered for adults experiencing hard times is “How to Survive the Loss of a Love.”
    It works for all loss (job, friend, goal) and teaches about the natural process of grief.

    It is written by 3 authors: Melba Colgrove, Ph.D.; Harold H. Bloomfield, M.D.; and Peter McWilliams, poet.
    It has short, succinct left-hand pages of practical “do this” ideas and reminders. The right-hand pages are the poetry which seems like all loss is the absence of a loved one.
    I’ve given away dozens of copies for over three decades, and recommend it to everyone. I order multiple copies at a time so I have them on hand.
    I love your sensitive good sense.
    Pat

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  8. Thank you for posting this. I will check into some of these titles. Three and a half years ago, my daughter suddenly and unexpectedly lost her big brother. What kid knows how to grieve? It was such a sad time in our lives, and I didn’t know what to do as a grieving mother myself. My parents and inlaws were also at a loss and wasn’t sure how to cope. With everything going on in our lives, I still had a daughter that was hurting so terribly and all she knew what to do was to cry. A few months after my son passed away, someone introduced the book Tear Soup to me. I ended up buying myself and my parents and inlaws a copy. My daughter loved the book and occasionally asks to read it from time to time. And after we read it, she is more open to talk about the feelings in the book and then will usually share a feeling she is experiencing. Thanks again for posting!

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  10. I’d also recommend Michael Rosen’s Sad Book by Michael Rosen illustrated by Quentin Blake, The Scar by Charlotte Moundlic, illustrated by Olivier Tallec, and a new release: The Rough Patch by Brian Lies.

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  11. These look helpful, thanks. May I add one we have found good? It’s ‘Beginnings and endings with lifetimes in between’, illustrated by Robert Ingpen. The words are rhythmic and the illustrations are beautiful. It has been helpful for our children.

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  12. We just read One Wave at a Time: A Story About Grief and Healing by Holly Thompson. While we aren’t grieving a loss, my young children appreciated this picture book.
    The Pond by Nicola Davies was also a good book with beautiful pictures.
    Both are books about the loss of the father.

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  13. I think that Sonyas Chickens (Phoebe Wahl) is another great book about death, particularly how death gives birth to new life in the animal world.

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  16. Great list! Check out Emily Lost Someone She Loved by Kathleen Fucci. Wonderful book about loss, grief, and what God says about it!

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  18. My sister passed away last summer leaving 4 children age 6 to new born. I cared for them for a year and my niece’s (and my) favorite book was “Emily lost someone she loved”. My favorite aspect of this book was how it embraced the loss and anger, but also brought it back around to hope and love from the Bible. The illustrations are beautiful water color, and the girl in the story is a very relatable 5-8 year old. It does not offer platitudes, but rather real hope. https://www.amazon.com/Emily-Lost-Someone-She-Loved/dp/0990962202?crid=1EZ2Z4HLA8SSV&keywords=emily+lost+someone+she+loved&qid=1536671591&sprefix=Emily+lost&sr=8-1-fkmrnull&ref=mp_s_a_1_fkmrnull_1

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  19. When my mother passed away this spring, one book that seemed to help my boys was “Cry, Heart, But Never Break’ by Glenn Ringtved. It’s beautiful and comforting, I highly recommend it.

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