When Benito’s dog, Perro, dies, Benito wants to do anything he can do remember his beloved best friend. The Day of the Dead celebration is meant for this exact thing – so Benito gets to work creating an altar for Perro. Throughout this beautifully illustrated book, watch Benito find hope and healing in his ritual for Perro.
Family trips to the lake are the best, especially when the dog gets to come! That’s how it is in Aaron Becker’s book “A Stone for Sascha” – that is, until the year that Sascha the dog dies. The trip is feeling pretty sad, so the youngest daughter decides to walk on the beach and look for stones, only to find something that shows her Sascha has been with them all along. This is a beautiful book when you’ve lost a furry friend in your life!
Told from the perspective of elderly cat Tiger Rose, Jane Yolen’s “The Day Tiger Rose Said Goodbye” is a beautiful look at the transition for pets as they cross the rainbow bridge. Tiger Rose remembers her kitten days, and she revisits all of her old friends that she used to play with in the yard. But Tiger Rose knows that her body is old, and her soul is ready to join the flow of the universe. This is a lovely book to help your child (and you!) say goodbye to a beloved pet.
Pets are an important part of the family, and when one of our furry friends dies, it can be hard to answer children’s important questions! The folks at The Dodo put together an awesome resource called “A Kids Book about Saying Goodbye to a Pet” that encourages healthy conversation among families after a beloved pet crosses the rainbow bridge.
One of our favorite books is Patrice Karst’s “The Invisible String,” which tells all about how we are connected to our loved ones, even after they die. Now Karst has come out with another amazing resource, this time for pet loss, called “The Invisible Leash!” The reader is reminded that our four-legged loved ones always stay connected to our hearts!
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!
In this useful book from the First Experience series, the affable star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood helps children share feelings of the loss of a pet while offering reassurance that grieving is a natural, healing thing to do.
Boris von der Borch is a mean, greedy old pirate–tough as nails, through and through, like all pirates. Or is he? When a young boy sneaks onto Boris’s ship, he discovers that Boris and his mates aren’t quite what he expected. When Boris’ parrot dies, he mourns just like anyone else.
In Judith Viorsts’s The Tenth Good Thing about Barney, we meet the child narrator after his beloved cat, Barney, dies. In true Olivia’s House fashion, the boy’s mother suggests that they hold a funeral ritual for Barney, during which they can share their ten favorite things about their beloved cat. When the list only adds up to nine, the reader watches as Barney’s family finds that the lessons they’ve learned throughout the loss might just be the tenth good thing about Barney!
Our young girl narrator has a beloved friend and dog named Lulu – they spend every minute together! As time passes, Lulu gets older, and begins to get weaker. The little girl learns that Lulu’s lifetime is shorter than that of a human’s, and she will have to say goodbye to her friend soon. This is a beautiful resource for children with an older pet who can benefit from a compassionate connection!