The Best Children’s/YA Books About Death

A bibliography compiled by Marjorie Ingall for the 18th Annual Kavod v'Nichum Chevrah Kadisha and Jewish Cemetery Conference, June 2020

PICTURE BOOKS:

Kids 2 and up:

*The Goodbye Book by Todd Parr (2015)

*The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld (2018)

*When a Pet Dies by Fred Rogers (1998)

I Miss You: A First Look at Death by Pat Thomas (2001)

Where Are You? A Child’s Book about Loss by Lauren Olivieri (2007)

Kids 4 and up:

*A Last Goodbye by Elin Kelsey, illustrated by Soyeon Kim (2020)

*When Dinosaurs Die by Laurie Krasny Brown, Marc Brown (1996)

*The Funeral by Matt James (2018)

*Big Cat, Little Cat by Elisha Cooper (2017)

The Story Goes On by Aileen Fisher, illustrated by Mique Moriuchi (2005, out of print)

Mom’s Sweater by Jayde Perkin (2020)

The 10th Good Thing about Barney by Judith Viorst, illustrated by Erik Blegvad (1971!)

Where Do People Go When They Die by Rabbi Mindy Avra Portnoy (2003)

Just a Minute: A Trickster Tale and Counting Book by Yuyi Morales (2003)

Zayde Comes to Live by Sheri Sinykin (2012)

Sadie and Ori and the Blue Blanket by Jamie S. Korngold, illustrated by Julie Fortenberry (2015)

Stones for Grandpa by Renee Londner (2013)

The Dead Bird by Margaret Wise Brown, illustrated by Christian Robinson (2016 reissue)

While Grandpa Naps by Naomi Davis, illustrated by Jungwa Park (2019)

Kids 6 and up:

*Michael Rosen’s Sad Book by Michael Rosen, illustrated by Quentin Blake (2005)

*My Father’s Arms Are a Boat – by Stein Erik Lunde, illustrated by Øyvind Torseter, translated by Kari Dickson (2013)

*Ida Always by Caron Levis, illustrated by Charles Santoso (2016)

Cry Heart, But Never Break by Glenn Ringtved, illustrated by Charlotte Pardi, translated by Robert Moulthrop (2016)

Ocean Meets Sky by The Fan Brothers (2018)

Death is Stupid by Anastasia Higginbotham (2016)

Tear Soup by Pat Schweibert (2007)

MIDDLE GRADE (Kids 8-12):

*Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White (1952) *All Three Stooges by Erica Perl (2018) *Duck, Death and the Tulip – by Wolf Erlbruch (2013) Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson (1977) A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness (2011) The Runaways by Ulf Stark (2019) Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles (2005)

YOUNG ADULT (Kids 12 and up):

*Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (2005) *We are Okay by Nina LaCour (2017) *The Survival List by Courtney Sheinmel (2019) If I Stay by Gayle Forman (2009) The Sky is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson (2010) How to Save a Life by Sara Zarr (2011) The Boy in the Black Suit by Jason Reynolds (2015)

NOPE NOPE NOPE:

The Fall of Freddie the Leaf, Goldfish Ghost, Wishes for One More Day, Dog Heaven, Cat Heaven, The Heart and the Bottle, A Stone for Sascha, A Bubble

* Asterisks indicate my own favorites – mileage varies!