Reading Lists

Books About Death

Picture Books & Easy Readers | Juvenile Fiction | Juvenile Non-Fiction

Picture Books & Easy Readers

Barnhart, Peter                                                                                                             
The Wounded Duck (JE BAR)
For two years in a row a very old women postpones winter in the south to help a duck who has become blind and deaf. For the third winter the trip no longer matters.

Barron, T.A.                                                                                                             
Where is Grandpa? (JE BAR)
As his family reminisces after his beloved grandfather's death, a boy realizes that his grandfather is still with him in all the special places they shared.

Berg, Marinus                                                                                                         
The Three Birds: A Story For Children About The Loss of a Loved One (JE BER)
When a young bird's mother dies, its father tells it that Mummy is living in the sun now, where it is warm and Mummy can fly freely.

Carlstrom, Nancy White                                                                                                 
Blow Me a Kiss, Miss Lilly  (JE CAR)
When her best friend, an old lady named Miss Lilly, passes away, Sara learns that the memory of a loved one never dies.

Clifton, Lucille                                                                                                           
Everett Anderson’s Goodbye (JE CLI)
Everett Anderson has a difficult time coming to terms with his grief after his father dies.

Cohn, Janice I.                                                                                                         
I Had a Friend Named Peter: Talking to Children About the Death of a Friend (JE COH)
When Betsy learns about the death of a friend, her parents and kindergarten teacher answer questions about dying, funerals, and the burial process.

Coleman, Paul W.                                                                                                          
Where the Balloons Go  (JE COL)
Corey and his grandmother love to watch balloons floating up to the sky, and when she dies, Corey thinks of a special way to say goodbye.

Cosby, Bill                                                                                                    
The Day I Saw My Father Cry (JE READ COSBY)
Although Little Bill is sad when a friend of the family dies, he remembers the friend's lesson of saying "Merry Christmas" to get people to stop fighting.

DePaola, Tomie                                                                                                            
Nana Upstairs, Nana Downstairs (JE DEP)
A small boy enjoys his relationship with his grandmother and his great-grandmother, but he learns to face their inevitable death.

DePaola, Tomie                                                                                                            
Now One Foot Now the Other (JE DEP)
When his grandfather suffers a stroke, Bobby teaches his grandfather to walk, just as his grandfather had once taught him.

Fassler, Joan                                                                                                                         
My Grandpa Died Today (JE FAS)
A little boy tries to understand and accept the death of his grandfather.

Fritts, Mary                                                                                                             
If Nathan Were Here  (JE FRI)
A young boy grieves the loss of his best friend and thinks about how things would be if he were still alive.

Grimm, Wilhelm                                                                                                         
Dear Mili  (JE GRI)
This is the story of a mother who sends her daughter into the forest to save her from a terrible war.

Hesse, Karen                                                                                                                         
Poppy’s Chair (JE HES)
On her first summer visit to her grandmother since her grandfather's death, Leah is saddened by his absence, but Gramm helps her learn how to remember Poppy with joy.

Holden, Dwight L.                                                                                                       
Gran-gran’s Best Trick: A Story For Children Who Have Lost Someone They Love (JE HOL)
A child recounts his special relationships with his grandfather and the difficulty of coping with his death from cancer.

Madler, Trudy                                                                                                             
Why Did Grandma Die?  (JE MAD)
When her grandmother dies, Heidi tries to deal with her feelings of grief and loss and comes to accept death as a part of the life cycle by attending the funeral and talking to others about her feelings.

Parker, Marjorie Blain                                                                                      
Jasper’s Day (JE PAR)
Knowing that their beloved dog Jasper, now close to death from cancer, must be euthanized, a family takes a day to celebrate their pet's life and what he has meant to them.

Rosenberg, Liz                                                                                                      
The Carousel (JE ROS)
Two sisters find that the horses of a broken carousel have come alive in the rain.

Russo, Marisabina                                                                                                    
Grandpa Abe  (JE RUS)
Grandpa Abe enters Sarah's life as her grandmother's boyfriend, becomes her grandfather by marriage, and enriches her life before leaving it.

Rylant, Cynthia                                                                                                          
Cat Heaven  (JE RYL)
God created Cat Heaven, with fields of sweet grass where cats can play, kitty-toys for them to enjoy, and angels to rub their noses and ears.

Rylant, Cynthia                                                                                                          
Dog Heaven (JE RYL)
God created Dog Heaven, a place where dogs can eat ice cream biscuits, sleep on fluffy clouds, and run through unending fields.

Scheller, Melanie                                                                                                         
My Grandfather’s Hat  (JE SCH)
A boy recalls his special relationship with his grandfather by playing with his grandfather's old hat.

Schick, Eleanor                                                                                                         
Mama (JE SCH)
A child remembers special moments with Mama and starts to feel better after grieving over her death.

Schneider, Antonie                                                                                                          
Good-bye Vivi!  (JE SCH)
When Granny's beloved canary Vivi dies, the family comes to accept it, as well as the idea that some day they will lose Granny as well.

Shriver, Maria                                                                                                             
What’s Heaven? (JE SHR) 
After her great-grandmother's death, a young girl learns about heaven by asking her mother all kinds of questions.

Spelman, Cornelia                                                                                                        
After Charlotte’s Mom Died  (JE SPE)
Because her mom's death causes six-year-old Charlotte to feel sad, mad, and scared, she and her dad visit a therapist who helps them acknowledge and express their feelings.

Turner, Barbara J.                                                                                                     
A Little Bit of Rob  (JE TUR)
After Rob's death, his parents and younger sister finally take their boat out crabbing again in an effort to get their lives back to normal.

Varley, Susan                                                                                                             
Badger’s Parting Gifts  (JE VAR)
Badger's friends are sad when he dies, but they treasure the legacy he left them.

Viorst, Judith                                                                                                                         
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (JE VIO)
In an attempt to overcome his grief, a boy tries to think of the ten best things about his dead cat.

Wells, Rosemary                                                                                                      
The Language of Doves  (JE WEL)
On her sixth birthday, Julietta's grandfather gives her one of his beautiful homing pigeons and tells her a story of his experience raising and training doves in Italy during the Great War.

Whelen, Gloria                                                                                                            
Bringing the Farm House Home  (JE WHE)
When Grandma dies, her five children and their children descend on her farmhouse to divide the possessions in an orderly manner and in hopes of making everyone happy.

White Deer of Autumn                                                                                         
The Great Change  (JE WHI)
A Native American grandmother explains the meaning of death, or the Great Change, to her questioning granddaughter.

Wild, Margaret                                                                                                       
Old Pig  (JE WIL)
Because Old Pig knows that her time to die is near, she puts her affairs in order and takes a slow walk with Granddaughter to savor the beauty for one last time.

Wilhelm, Hans                                                                                                  
I’ll Always Love You  (JE WIL)
A child's sadness at the death of a beloved dog is tempered by the remembrance of saying to it every night, "I'll always love you."

Yolen, Jane                                                                                                             
Grandad Bill’s Song   (JE YOL)
A boy asks others how they felt when his grandfather died and then shares his own feelings.

Zolotow, Charlotte                                                                                                       
The Old Dog  (JE ZOL)
When a young boy finds his old dog dead one morning, he spends the rest of the day thinking about all the good times they had together.

Juvenile Fiction

Buscaglia, Leo                                                                                               
The Fall of Freddie the Leaf (JUV FIC BUSCAGLIA)
As Freddie experiences the changing seasons along with his companion leaves, he learns about the delicate balance between life and death.

Coerr, Eleanor                                                                                                          
Sadako And The Thousand Paper Cranes (JUV FIC COERR)
Hospitalized with the dreaded atom bomb disease, leukemia, a child in Hiroshima races against time to fold one thousand paper cranes to verify the legend that by doing so a sick person will become healthy.

Creech, Sharon                                                                                                      
Walk Two Moons (JUV FIC CREECH)
After her mother leaves home suddenly, thirteen-year-old Sal and her grandparents take a car trip retracing her mother's route. Along the way, Sal recounts the story of her friend Phoebe, whose mother also left.

Hemery, Kathleen                                                                                            
The Brightest Star  (JUV FIC HEMERY)
A father helps his grieving daughter, following the death of her mother, by pointing out a twinkling star that seems to be smiling down at them.

Jukes, Mavis                                                                                                                            
Blackberries in the Dark  (JUV FIC JUKES)
Nine-year-old Austin visits his grandmother the summer after his grandfather dies and together they try to come to terms with their loss.

Katz, Susan                                                                                                             
Snowdrops for Cousin Ruth  (JUV FIC KATZ)
Nine-year-old Johanna and eighty-two year-old Cousin Ruth try to help their family heal after the accidental death of Johanna's younger brother.

Mills, Claudia                                                                                                           
Dinah Forever  (JUV FIC MILLS)
As she tries to cope with her thoughts about death by writing poems and talking with her elderly friend, Mrs. Briscoe, Dinah Seabrook wonders about the importance of the seventh-grade elections, the school play, and even her relationship with Nick Tribble.

Rylant, Cynthia                                                                                                   
Missing May (JUV FIC RYLANT)
After the death of the beloved aunt who has raised her, twelve-year-old Summer and her uncle Ob leave their West Virginia trailer in search of the strength to go on living.

Juvenile Non-Fiction

Anderson, Lydia                                                                                    
Death  (JUV 155.937 ANDERSON)
Discusses the cycle of life and death, burial customs of the past and present day, and grief and mourning.

Bode, Janet                                                                                                       
Death Is Hard To Live With (JUV 155.937 BODE)
Explores ways of making peace with the shock, guilt, and tragedy of death.  Young adults who feel defeated can learn through these examples and, by reading what worked for their peers, discover that they, too, can find a way to cope.

Brown, Laurie Krasny                                                                                        
When Dinosaurs Die   (JUV 155.9 BROWN)
Explains 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 Enchanted Family                                                                                          
Exploring Grief: An Enchantẻ Inner-Active Book  (JUV 155.937 EXPL)
An inter-active book which allows children to reflect on the cycle of life while completing corresponding activities.

The Kid’s Book about Death and Dying  (JUV 155.937 KID)
Fourteen children offer facts and advice to give young readers a better understanding of death.

Johnson, Joy and Marv                                                                                           
Tell Me, Papa: a Family Book For Children’s Questions About Death and Funerals (JUV 155.9 JOHNSON)
Attempts to answer fundamental questions that children have about death and explains that a variety of feelings about death are normal. 

LeShan, Eda                                                                                                     
Learning To Say Good-By: When a Parent Dies   (JUV 155.9 LESHAN)
Discusses the questions, fears, and fantasies many children experience when a parent or someone close to them dies.

McIntyre                                                                                                   
Jungle Journey: Grieving & Remembering Eleanor the Elephant  (JUV 155.937 MCINTYRE)
The animals confront their grief after the death of their beloved Eleanor the elephant on a remarkable journey through the jungle. A courageous and hopeful story of grief and loss that will inspire children of all ages.

McNamara, Jill Westberg                                                               
My Mom Is Dying  (JUV 155.937 MCNAMARA)
When Kristine learns her mother is dying, she begins writing to God to help her understand her feelings and fears. Includes a discussion section to help parents and children to talk about death, grieving, and God's love.

Mellonie, Bryan and Robert Ingpen                                                                       
Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way To Explain Death To Children  (JUV 155.937 MELLONIE)
This sensitive book is a useful tool in explaining to children that death is a part of life and that, eventually, all living things reach the end of their own special lifetimes.

Mills, Joyce C.                                                                                                 
Gentle Willow: A Story for Children about Dying  (JUV 616.99 MILLS)
Amanda is upset that she is going to lose her friend Gentle Willow, but the Tree Wizards help her understand that her memories are gifts from her friend and that there are special ways of saying goodbye.

Simon, Norma                                                                                                                           
The Saddest Time  (JUV 155.937 SIMON)
Explains death as the inevitable end of life and provides three situations in which children experience powerful emotions when someone close has died.

Stein, Sara Bonnett                                                                                                   
About Dying: An Open Family Book For Parents and Children Together  (JUV 155.937 STEIN)
This book creates a shared experience for adult and child by providing separate texts for child and parent.