Mason Deaver’s “The Ghosts We Keep” tells the story of teenage boy Liam, whose older brother was killed in a car accident. As Liam’s world swirls and spins around him, he ends up finding comfort with his brother’s best friend. This young adult novel captures the real feelings of adolescent grief and would be a great book for your tween or teen to borrow!
A favorite of Development Director Michelle, Saxton Freymann’s book How Are You Peeling? is a fun and hilarious way to teach your child about emotions! Each food in the book has a different emotion, and it’s up to your child to decide how they think the foods are feeling (or, peeling)!
It can often be our instinct to use euphemisms or flowery phrases to describe death, but what children need from us is direct, humanized interactions. In Anastasia Higgenbottom’s Death is Stupid! our young narrator informs the adults in his world exactly how he feels about death, which opens up beautiful conversation!
In Kathe Martin Copeland’s Mama’s Going to Heaven Soon, a little girl learns that her mom has terminal cancer. Her father finds all the right words to tell her what is happening, and that makes this book a perfect guide for any parent who is preparing their child for the death of a loved one.
Where are our Today Show fans at?? Maybe you’ve heard of our newest library resource, “Misty the Cloud: A Very Stormy Day” written by meteorologist Dylan Dreyer! This adorable book uses weather to help children describe and understand their emotions!
The death of a sibling is a unique loss that often leaves parents confused about how to help their surviving children process what has happened. “Forever Connected” by Jessica Correnti is a beautifully illustrated example of a bereaved sibling’s experience, intertwining stories from many walks of life. This book provides the perfect language for rituals and remembering!
Stitch was a rowdy dog who loved to get into everything, so his family was always asking, “Where’s Stitch?” In Mark Gregston’s book of the same name, we walk alongside Stitch’s family as he goes from being rowdy, to slowing down, and eventually dying. As Stitch’s family wonders aloud what happens after we die, the reader learns positive ways to discuss the loss of your pet with children of all ages!
When an infant sibling dies, it is so important to remind your other children that their brother or sister are still an important part of the family. Megan Lacourrege’s “My Sibling Still” reads as a love letter to the sibling who has passed, showing how the family remembers and cherishes their spirit-side child. This is a beautiful book for children of all ages!
The best way to tell if a book is right for you is to open it up, flip through the pages, and get a sense for the feeling it provides. When your child or teen pops open A Kids Book About Grief by Brennan Wood, they will immediately be blown away by just how stunning the book is. Reading almost like a graphic novel without pictures, this resource is sure to engage a child of any age!
Olivia’s House has long taught in our programs not only the importance of crying to express your emotions, but also the science behind our tears and how they can help to soothe our pain. In Fran Pintadera’s Why do we Cry?, she underscores this education by beautifully crafting a resource that explains to young children the many reasons for our tears. Whether our tears represent sadness leaving our body, an overwhelm of excitement, or anything in between, the author reminds us in a gentle way that tears are a universal language, spoken across time and place.