Last month, I shared a post about how it’s not just us adults who grieve, but children grieve too. It turned out to be a very popular post, and a lot of people found it insightful, not just for realising the differences in how grief is expressed in children compared to adults, but also because of the suggestions on how to support children through grief and loss.

One of those suggestions was to be honest in age-appropriate ways. This basically means using gentle but truthful language to explain what happened, rather than using vague phrases like “sleeping” or “gone away” as this can often be very confusing, and may even create fears in younger children (if you’d like to read the rest of the blog post, click here).

Besides talking to them directly, we found a great way to do this was through books. Not only did books help with finding the right words to say, but along with their illustrations, we found that they made things more age-appropriate for them to understand, regardless of their age.

We were fortunate to have been gifted some beautiful children’s books about grief, and we also bought a few more ourselves. There are so many options out there, and if I’m honest, it did get a little overwhelming, especially when you’re in the midst of grief yourself. So in today’s blog post, I decided to share some of our favourite children’s books on grief and loss in the hopes that it can cut the overwhelm and help you find a suitable one, whether it’s for your own children, or for a family you know who are grieving.

The Invisible String (Patrice Karst, illustrated by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff)

While it wasn’t originally written as a grief book, it has become a top choice worldwide to comfort children and families through grief and loss. This story talks about how we are all connected through an invisible string of love, and how we are never truly alone because these strings never go away.

Why we loved it: We found it was a beautiful way to explain how we are always connected to those we love, even if they aren’t physically with us.

Everywhere, Still (M.H. Clark, illustrated by Claire Lemp)

This meaningful book is about loss and grief, and missing someone. This story is an honest look into our feelings and what we go through when we miss someone we love. But more than that, this book is also a beautiful reminder that love connects us and stays with us in our hearts always because love is not limited by time or distance.

Why we loved it: We liked that it talked about how you can miss someone, and what missing someone feels like – we felt it helped make the concept of missing someone more tangible for little minds to grasp.

My Sibling Still (Megan Lacourrege, illustrated by Joshua Wichterich)

This was the only book I could find that spoke specifically about sibling loss, and even covered siblings lost through miscarriage/stillbirth. It’s essentially a love letter from the child lost to their sibling(s). It talks about how they will always be part of their family even though they aren’t around, and how they will always love them and be with them in other ways.

Why we loved it: We felt it was the best book for our situation, especially when our oldest started asking more questions about death and even my previous miscarriages. We also loved that they talked about how the parents may be feeling/behaving while grieving and missing their sibling.

How High Is Heaven? (Linsey Davis, illustrated by Lucy Fleming)

This book is written in rhyme (my favourite type of children’s book!) and the story is told in a fun, imaginative, and light-hearted way. It talks about a little boy trying to figure out how he can get to heaven to see his grandma, and what he learns about life and faith in the end.

Why we loved it: It was a nice contrast to the other grief books that were more “heavy” and feelings-focused. It was also a good way to supplement our answers to some of our toddler’s questions on where heaven was, if we could go there to see Dorian, etc.

Heaven Is For Real For Kids (Todd Burpo, illustrated by Wilson Ong)

This special story is about a child’s experience of his time in heaven while he was undergoing an emergency operation. It shares what he saw, what heaven is like, and each memory is backed with scripture.

Why we loved it: It was comforting for me as well as the kids to have a more visual idea of where Dorian is and what heaven will be like.

I hope you found this post helpful, and if you know of any other beautiful children’s books on grief, please comment below and share it with our community!

And one final note…

Just remember that there will be times when your child is completely uninterested in reading these books. When you’re overcome with your own grief and emotions, this refusal can sometimes weigh heavy on you and feel like rejection, but please know that this is normal. At the end of the day, they are still kids, and they also process grief differently from adults. Just leave the books around where they can constantly see them, and try again another time. When they’re ready, you can read them together.