Children's Picture Books

This book provides reassurance and understanding to readers through clear and honest answers to the difficult questions that can follow the death of a loved one, and carries the invaluable message that it is okay to be sad, but it is okay to be happy, too.

This quiet, gentle, heart-warming book is meant to be shared with a child - a book first about love and friendship, and then about loss.

A woman reminisces about her neighbor's son who was the object of a letter writing campaign by some fourth-graders when he went away to war in 1943.

A modern-day Native American girl learns to understand the cycle of life after her grandfather dies.

When a sick boy dies, his friends and classmates remember him by building a schoolyard pond in his memory.

As Freddie experiences the changing seasons along with his companion leaves, he learns about the delicate balance between life and death.

Daddy comforts and reassures a very young boy after Mommy dies.

A young girl reflects on a year of exploring and laughing with her beloved Grandpa, remembering many special moments as she seeks a way to honor him after his death.

In this thoughtful story of loss and recovery a young boy's happy life is interrupted when his grandfather passes away. Suddenly his world is full of big questions and difficult emotions. Will things ever be normal again? For a time he struggles with his thoughts and feelings. Then one day, during a chance encounter on the subway, he makes a wonderful new connection...

As her grandmother taught her, Magdalena continues to protect the sea turtles that nest near her home even after Grandma's death.

A young boy and his family are trying to overcome the loss of his father. The natural world becomes part of the healing process.

Four-year-old Tommy enjoys his relationship with both his grandmother and great-grandmother, but eventually learns to face their inevitable death.

Bruno's grandfather has passed away. Bruno participates in the funeral with the grown-ups, but doesn't think his grandfather has died, he's just sleeping!

When their salamander friend dies, mouse siblings Benny and Penny learn how to say goodbye.

Gramps's farm isn't the same after Grandma's death, but slowly Mags and Cody work to recreate her spirit by bringing back some of the things she loved.

Five-year-old Emily tries to understand her grandfather's death by exploring the Christian and Jewish rituals that her family practices during and after his funeral.

Explore the feelings we have when a loved one's life goes away, how we cope with missing them, and how we can celebrate their memory.

Norma and her parents are going to her great-uncle Frank's funeral, and Norma is more excited than sad. She is looking forward to playing with her favorite cousin, Ray, but when she arrives at the church, she is confronted with rituals and ideas that have never occurred to her before. While not all questions can be answered, when the day is over Norma is certain of one thing -- Uncle Frank would have enjoyed his funeral.

After safeguarding her heart in a bottle hung around her neck, a girl finds the bottle growing heavier and her interest in things around her becoming smaller.

A family, including a child who is dying, sews together a quilt of its memories and love.

While celebrating the Days of the Dead, a young Mexican girl remembers her wonderful grandmother who sang songs, made tortillas, chased monsters away, and loved butterflies.

A polar bear grieves over the loss of his companion, based on the real-life Gus and Ida of New York's Central Park Zoo.

When someone you love dies, you might feel sad, lonely, and confused. What do you do? No matter who your loved one was, this story can help you through the tough times.

Emily introduces her younger brother, Ben, to butterflies, which he calls "flying flowers," and when his illness makes him too weak to go see them she draws him pictures, but after his death she no longer wants to draw happy things. Includes note to parents.

When the death of a relative, a friend, or a pet happens or is about to happen . . . how can we help a child to understand? Lifetimes tells us about beginnings. And about endings. And about living in between.

After Old Turtle swims his last swim and breathes his last breath, and the waves gently take him away, his friends lovingly remember how he impacted each and every one of them. As the sea animals think back on how much better Old Turtle made their lives and their world, they realize that he is not truly gone, because his memory and legacy will last forever.

Amanda the squirrel is upset that she is going to lose her friend Gentle Willow, but the tree wizards give advice that help both her and Gentle Willow accept the change that comes with death.

Grieving over her father's death from cancer, a young girl celebrates their last year together by making a book that includes mementos and a story.

When Stacy's baby sister dies of SIDS, she feels confused & guilty.

Anna and Joey list the things they would do with Poppy, if they had one more day to share with their grandfather.

Children ask different adults and themselves about death and receive a wide variety of answers.

Hippo and Monkey are best, best, best friends and when the wise old Hippo dies, Monkey is very sad until Chameleon helps him remember the stories he and Hippo shared.

Bear and Grandpa are going fishing today. But where is Grandpa? Bear's friends gently tell him that Grandpa has died, and together they say goodbye.

A child remembers special moments with Mama and starts to feel better after grieving over her death.

When Rachel's beloved grandfather, Zayde, comes to spend his last days with her family, she worries what will happen when he dies, especially after friends tell her the Christian and Muslim beliefs about the afterlife.

When the tsunami destroyed Makio's village, Makio lost his father . . . and his voice. The entire village is silenced by grief, and the young child's anger at the ocean grows. Then one day his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, begins a mysterious project--building a phone booth in his garden. At first Makio is puzzled; the phone isn't connected to anything. It just sits there, unable to ring. But as more and more villagers are drawn to the phone booth, its purpose becomes clear to Makio: the disconnected phone is connecting people to their lost loved ones. Makio calls to the sea to return what it has taken from him and ultimately finds his voice and solace in a phone that carries words on the wind. Inspired by a true story.

Badger's friends are sad when he dies, but they treasure the legacies he left them.

George loves Saturdays. That's because Saturdays mean time with Grandma Stella. The two of them love going on adventures downtown to visit the dinosaur museum and ride on the carousel! Even when they stay in, George and Stella have fun together, making cinnamon rolls without popping open a tube and sharing the biggest, best hugs.Then one day Stella is gone, and George is ready to cancel Saturdays. But when a new addition to the family arrives, George finds a way to celebrate the priceless memories he made with his grandma--while making new ones too.

Spare, poignant, and ultimately upbeat, this tale depicts the natural cycle of friendship from an enthusiastic first encounter to contented companionship to the heartbreak of loss and eventual emotional renewal. Presented with a comfortingly consistent narrative structure, the events are set against the backdrop of the changing seasons, reassuring readers that winter will turn again to spring, sadness to joy.

A child and her grandmother feel sad when Grandpa dies, but as time passes, funny memories of him make them laugh and feel better.

A boy asks others how they felt when his grandfather died and then shares his own feelings.

Together Lewis and his mother remember Grandpa, who used to come in the night when Lewis called.