15 Children’s Titles About Grief

I’m processing a very difficult time, the only way I know how – by sharing books. Today I’m sharing both picture books and middle grade titles about grief.

My library lost an amazing staff member this week. She was one of the kindest, strongest, most genuine people I’ve ever met and I feel so grateful to have been just a small part of her life for the past 12 years. I cannot do her justice in a single blog post, but I do want to share some of thoughts.

Her tenure with us began 44 years ago while she was still in high school and was an institution at our circulation desk. She knew our patrons by name and could easily grab exactly what they wanted, listened to their stories, and wouldn’t hesitate to lay down the law when needed – no-nonsense, but not escalating the situation either.

I got to know her better as we were continually hiring for her department as our staff has been retiring right and left in recent years. She was phenomenal at hiring staff – she’d let me ask the questions and she’d just sit, listen, and observe. I could always tell how she felt about a candidate as soon as we finished an interview. And I loved how she knew exactly what she was looking for and was willing to wait until we found just the right person for the job.

She was willing to try new ideas (usually after I gave her some time to think it over) – even when they changed the way we did everything. We started offering self-service pick-ups for holds just a few years ago and although she was adamantly against it when I first brought it up. We talked it over on more than one occasion and she realized how beneficial this new procedure could be.

She was completely selfless and poured her heart and soul into her work and it showed. It was not uncommon for her to work beyond scheduled hours, volunteer her time in her community, and took her job seriously, but like all of us, had a lot of fun too. She carried herself with a grace that is rarely seen and was truly one in a million.

I got the chance to talk with her over the phone for just a few minutes a couple of weeks ago and I’m so very glad I did. It gave me a chance to tell her how much I valued her not just as an employee, but as a person and thank her for everything she has done for the library as a whole and for me, personally. I think, looking back, it gave me a small sense of closure.

She is no longer here with us, but I have no doubt that she’s keeping an eye on our library from heaven and is smiling down on us.

15 Children’s Titles About Grief

1. Always and Forever by Alan Durant, illustrated by Debi Gliori
2. The Boy, the Boat, and the Beast by Samantha M. Clark
3. Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan
4. The Goodbye Book by Todd Parr
5. Ida, Always by Caron Levis, illustrated by Charles Santoso
6. I’ll Always Love You by Hans Wilhelm
7. The Invisible String by Patrice Karst, illustrated by Geoff Stevenson
8. Lifetimes: A Beautiful Way to Explain Life and Death to Children by Bryan Mellonie, illustrated by Robert Ingpen
9. The Line Tender by Kate Allen
10. The Memory Tree by Britta Teckentrup
11. Ms. Bixby’s Last Day by John David Anderson
12. Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs by Tomie dePaola
13. Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai
14. Summer of the Gypsy Moths by Sara Pennypacker
15. The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin