Well I am glad you asked! You have come to the right place! I love using books in my practice and often am asked what my favorites are by my friends and colleagues when kiddos near them are grieving. Below you will find some of my favorites with a short explanation of why I love them! Different books are great to pair with different types of discussions and activities.
I love this book because it provides an approachable way to death when it comes to kids. It uses simple, clear language that can help children easily understand what death is, what can cause death, and what can come after death like memorial services and feelings.
2. The Invisible String by Patrice Karst
This book is a great tool for helping kids feel connected to their people after they have died. I also use this book a lot in therapy for kids who have separation anxiety. We can talk a lot about how we have our invisible strings to people (and pets) we love most and you can even do a visible drawing to show your strings to your loved ones.
Ida, Always is a beautiful story about anticipatory grief. There are not a lot of books out there about anticipatory grief which can show us different feelings we have when we know that someone we love is sick and will die. In the book, the two polar bears spend their days after Ida gets sick enjoying time as well as roaring their big, angry feelings because her illness stinks. I LOVE this book.
4. Badger’s Parting Gifts by Susan Valley
This is a wonderful book that talks about how much we can miss our person who died but also how we can remember them through the physical and intangible gifts our person gave us. This book can provide a great conversation about what your person who died gave your kiddo and others inn your family.
5. My Big, Dumb Invisible Dragon by Angie Lucas
This book is a beautiful illustration of how our grief follows us every day after someone dies. Throughout the book we see how the boy’s relationship changes with his dragon and as he learns how to navigate life with his dragon by his side. A great activity to pair with this book would be to draw what your kiddo’s grief dragon looks like. Have them engage their senses of what it looks like, smells like, talks like, etc. You can have them draw this or create it with model magic, clay, or pipe cleaners!
I hope that you will add some of these to your collection and share how these went with your kids!