Books about grief, loss, and hope for children and adolescents
Loss of Grandparents
Losing a grandparent is often our first glimpse of grief, so it can hit hard.
Annie and the Old One
by Miska Miles
Annie's grandmother has told her Navaho family that she is preparing to die. She will live until the latest rug is finished and asks her loved ones what gift they wish to keep. Annie chooses her grandmother's weaving stick but she panics at the thought of her grandmother's death. Although she works on the rug, every night she unravels all the work which has been done that day. At last, her grandmother explains that death is part of a natural cycle, an integral part of creation. Annie understands and begins to weave the rug again.
Badger's Parting Gift
by Susan Varley
Great story about losing an older member of the family and honoring their personal contributions.
The Cemetery Quilt
by Kent and Alice Ross
A very wise story of a girl who goes to her grandfather's funeral and talks to her grandmother about death and how she feels about it.
Finding Grandpa Everywhere: A Young Child Discovers Memories of a Grandparent
by Marta Felber
A young child discovers memories of a grandparent. This book is beautifully illustrated with a storyline that addresses issues that children have after a grandparent dies. It includes a section for teachers and parents.
Gran-Gran’s Best Trick: A Story for Children Who Have Lost Someone They Love
by MAD. Holden and L. Dwight
A child recounts her special relationships with her grandfather and the difficulty of coping with his death from cancer.
The Key Into Winter
by Janet S. Anderson
This is a magical story about a household in which there are four keys which open the seasons. A young girl hides the key into winter to prevent her grandmother's approaching death. It is an allegory for the natural cycles of life and coming to terms with grief and loss and learning to hope.
Nana Upstairs & Nana Downstairs
by Tomie dePaola
An autobiographical story that gently introduces children to the concept of death through the eyes of a young boy and his relationship with his grandmother and great-grandmother.
When a Grandparent Dies: A Kid's Own Workbook for Remembering Shiva and the Year Beyond
by Nechama Liss-levinson, PhD
The rituals surrounding death are clearly explained.
Badger’s Parting Gifts
by Julian Barnes
A story that helps children understand grief by showing how friends remember and honor a loved one who has passed away.
Grandad’s Island
by Benji Davies
A beautifully illustrated book that uses metaphor to explain the concept of death, as a young boy's grandfather embarks on a final journey.
Healing a Spouse’s Grieving Heart
by Alan D. Wolfelt
Provides 100 practical ideas to help cope with grief, emphasizing self-care and healing after the loss of a spouse.
Comfort for the Grieving Spouse’s Heart*
by Gary Roe
Offers emotional and spiritual support, drawing from the author’s experience as a grief counselor to assist those mourning a spouse.
Widow to Widow
by Genevieve Davis Ginsburg
A compassionate guide offering practical advice and shared experiences to help widows navigate the challenges of loss.
Healing a Spouse’s Grieving Heart
by Alan D. Wolfelt
Provides 100 practical ideas to help cope with grief, emphasizing self-care and healing after the loss of a spouse.
Comfort for the Grieving Spouse’s Heart
by Gary Roe
Offers emotional and spiritual support, drawing from the author’s experience as a grief counselor to assist those mourning a spouse.
Loss of a child
I am personally blessed that I do not know this pain. I truly cannot imagine it.
Once More We Saw Stars
by Jayson Greene
Jayson Greene recounts the tragic loss of his two-year-old daughter in this deeply moving memoir. His narrative provides an intimate look at the grieving process and the resilience of the human spirit in the face of unimaginable tragedy.
I Promise It Won't Always Hurt Like This: 18 Assurances on Grief
by Clare Mackintosh
Author Clare Mackintosh shares her journey through grief after the loss of her infant son. Through 18 heartfelt assurances, she offers comfort and hope to others navigating the painful path of bereavement.
How to Survive the Loss of a Child
by Dr. Catherine M. Sanders
Sanders, a psychologist and bereaved parent herself, offers a compassionate and practical guide to help parents cope with the devastating loss of a child. Drawing from her professional expertise and personal experience, Sanders provides insights into the emotional and psychological processes of mourning.
Shattered: Surviving the Loss of a Child
by Gary Roe*
Written by hospice chaplain and grief specialist Gary Roe, this book provides compassionate guidance for parents dealing with the overwhelming emotions following the loss of a child. It offers practical advice on navigating grief, addressing family dynamics, and finding a path toward healing.
You Are the Mother of All Mothers
by Angela Miller
This heartfelt book serves as a gentle reminder to grieving mothers that they are not alone. Through brief yet powerful messages, it affirms that the loss was not their fault and that their love endures. This beautifully designed book is often recommended as a comforting gift for bereaved mothers.
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination
by Elizabeth McCracken
In this poignant memoir, novelist McCracken shares her personal experience of losing her first child, who was stillborn. With honesty and grace, she explores the depths of grief and the journey toward healing, offering solace to others facing similar losses.
Anticipating your own loss
Walking bravely into God's Arms or ....
The Last Lecture
A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—"Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams"—wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment . It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living. In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form.
Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson
by Mitch Albom
Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher. Someone older who understood you when you were young, who helped you see the world as a more profound place, and gave you advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago. Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of your mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded. Mitch Albom had a second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college. Tuesdays With Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift to the world.
When Breath Becomes Air
by Paul Kalanithi
A poignant memoir by a neurosurgeon diagnosed with terminal cancer, reflecting on life, purpose, and the transition from doctor to patient. Paul Kalanithi died in March 2015, while working on this book, yet his words live on as a guide and a gift to us all. “I began to realize that coming face to face with my own mortality, in a sense, had changed nothing and everything,” he wrote. “Seven words from Samuel Beckett began to repeat in my head: ‘I can’t go on. I’ll go on.’” When Breath Becomes Air is an unforgettable, life-affirming reflection on the challenge of facing death and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a brilliant writer who became both.
Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End
by Atul Gawande
A surgeon examines the limitations of modern medicine in end-of-life care, advocating for a focus on quality of life and personal autonomy.
The Art of Dying: The Only Book for Persons Facing Their Own Death
by Patricia Weenolsen
A practical guide addressing the emotional, spiritual, and logistical aspects of preparing for death, offering comfort and actionable advice.
Nothing to Fear
by Julie McFadden
Drawing from her experience as a hospice nurse, McFadden demystifies the dying process, offering practical advice and emotional insights to help individuals and families navigate end-of-life with understanding and peace.
Loss
Sometimes, loss comes at us from many sides.
Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul: Stories about Life, Death and Overcoming the Loss of a Loved One
by Jack Canfield
Written by authors who have lost loved ones, these stories offer comfort, peace and understanding to those going through the grieving process. One of the key messages of
Chicken Soup for the Grieving Soul is that togetherness and sharing are the keys to moving on. In these stories people share their experiences with coping and they share deep memories. Each one has found that putting thoughts and feelings into words is not only cathartic, it allows them to reconnect with their loved one and others.
A Grace Disguised: How the Soul Grows through Loss
Loss came suddenly for Jerry Sittser. In an instant, a tragic car accident claimed three generations of his family: his mother, his wife, and his young daughter. While most of us will not experience such a catastrophic loss in our lifetime, all of us will taste it. And we can, if we choose, know as well the grace that transforms it.
A Grace Disguised plumbs the depths of sorrow, whether due to illness, divorce, or the loss of someone we love. The circumstances are not important; what we do with those circumstances is. In coming to the end of ourselves, we can come to the beginning of a new life---one marked by spiritual depth, joy, compassion, and a deeper appreciation of simple blessings.
The Long Goodbye
by Meghan O’Rourke
O'Rourke provides a portrait of the anguish of grief and the enduring power of familial love. After her mother died of cancer at the age of fifty-five, O'Rourke found that nothing had prepared her for the intensity of her sorrow. In the first anguished days, she began to create a record of her interior life as a mourner, trying to capture the paradox of grief-its monumental agony and microscopic intimacies-an endeavor that ultimately bloomed into a profound look at how caring for her mother during her illness changed and strengthened their bond. With lyricism and candor, The Long Goodbye conveys the moments of joy that make up a life, and the way memory can lead us out of the jagged darkness of loss.
