The topic of kids and grief is not easy. It can be difficult to know how to support children through grief. We at Beaming Books would like to help. We have compiled a collection of grief and loss books for kids that can help parents, teachers, school counselors, and school social workers engage with kids’ grief. Scroll down for books that serve kids during difficult times plus grief resources for kids that include free printable grief worksheets and children-grief activities.
“When a loved one dies, children need consolation, love, support, and affection. This beautiful book will help start the grieving process and support children to talk about their loved on in a normal, healthy way.”
—Sue Atkins, author of Parenting Made Easy: How to Raise Happy Children, on The Memory Box
“Colorful illustrations featuring individuals with diverse skin colors, hair styles, physical abilities, and religions further emphasize the universality of grief.”
—Booklist, on All About Grief
“With its hopeful ending and tender examples of emotional processing, this picture book offers young readers an age-appropriate view of grief.”
—Kirkus Reviews, on Missing Violet
“This is a sweet story that addresses the death of a grandparent and how a child comes to terms with their grief.”
—Imagination Soup, on Remembering Sundays with Grandpa
Beaming Books continues to publish child bereavement books and stories meant to help kids through big losses. The below books were just published. Click on each cover to learn more about the book.
For many kids, loss of a pet is the first type of grief they experience. The Light in My Bunny is a sweet, hopeful addition to the category of pet loss books for kids. Selena has a magical glowing pet whose light is beginning to dim. The story comforts readers with the reminder that through love and memory, the light of our loved ones never truly goes out.
Every year on All Souls Day, Mara and her grandparents visit homes in their neighborhood to sing to those mourning the death of a loved one. But this year, Mara and Nene have lost Popi. This poignant story with luminous art teaches that when we comfort others, we feel comfort ourselves.
These books for school counselors, teachers, and caregivers tell stories about kids and grief using terms that kids can understand. Reading them aloud to children can help them name their feelings and open up conversations about the children’s grieving process. Click on each cover to learn more about the book.
In child-friendly language, The Memory Box speaks to a loved one who has died. It voices the fear “I’m scared I will forget you” and plants the idea to create a memory box to store written memories and momentos of a loved one. This book gives voice to big feelings around grief and suggests one of many possible kids grief activities to help them work toward healing.
If you are wondering how to talk to kids about death, Abuelo’s Flower Shop offers a gentle way to start the conversion. While helping her abuelo at his flower shop, Elena wonders why many of the shop’s visitors have tears in their eyes. Her abuelo explains that they plan to visit loved ones who have died, and they are buying flowers as a way to say “I remember you, and I miss you.” A useful book to read if you plan on taking a child to a cemetery.
If you are thinking about how to prepare a child for a grandparent’s death, consider this adding this story to your kids grief books collection. After Henry’s grandpa dies, Henry and his mom feel Grandpa’s love in his special places, like the rocking chair where he read stories using silly voices. This book about celebrating a life shows different generations coping with grief and loss together.
While many books about death for kids focus on the passing of an older relative, this story addresses grief over a child’s death. Mia’s best friend leaves school sick and does not get better. She feels alone, until she and her classmates come together to remember what they loved about her friend. Missing Violet explores the stages of grief for kids, comparing them to colors of a rainbow.
Written as a letter to an unborn sibling, Dear Star Baby is about a little boy processing the grief he and his family share after a miscarriage. He tells the baby what he had wanted them to do together and imagines the baby twinkling in the sky. Thoughtful and sensitively told, this story will help families who have lost a baby to miscarriage or stillbirth cope with their loss.
Grief for kids is complicated and can apply to losses other than death. One of few books for kids about Alzheimer’s, A Doll for Grandma tells the story of a little girl grieving the grandma she knew and finding a new way to spend time with her grandmother after she has changed. Information on helping children understand Alzheimer’s disease is included in the back of the book.
No list of books on coping with grief for kids would be complete without a story about helping a friend going through a hard time. In One Small Thing, Racoon’s home burns down. His woodland friends feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to help. But each animal finds one small thing they can do for Raccoon—and each small act builds up to something big. For children who know someone going through a grief event, this book can help them understand how to support them.
These nonfiction childhood grief resources offer a straightforward way for kids to understand and process their feelings. Click on each cover to learn more about the book.
A companion to The Memory Box, this book is a kids grief journal meant to bring comfort in times of loss. In addition to grief journal prompts for kids, The Memory Book helps grieving families create their own memory album full of keepsakes of the person they lost.
While many of the books we offer are for younger children, this handbook serves the middle school age range—it’s a grief book for a ten year old through age thirteen. Written by psychologist Dr. Lora-Ellen McKinney, All About Grief teaches kids about what they are going through. Preteen readers will learn how grief affects their bodies and minds and develop strategies for healing and finding hope as they move forward.
For those who are looking for faith-based or Christian grief books for kids, this picture book speaks directly to children who are going through something hard. It teaches that “faith is hoping—through winter’s cold, amid crunching snow and wind—that everything will be alright.”
Made for teachers, counselors, and children, these grief resources allow you to explore some of these stories further. Use these free printables to supplement your storytelling and get kids moving.
