Book Recommendations

Books to help children & teens process life-threatening illnesses, death, and loss:

• Beyond the Innocence of Childhood: Helping Children and Adolescents Cope with Life-Threatening Illness and Dying by Eleanor J. Deveau
• Parents Guide to Raising Grieving Children by P. Silverman and M. Kelly
• When Bad Things Happen to Good People by Rabbi Harold S. Kushner
• ‘How I Feel Grief’ Journal for Kids: Guided Prompts to Explore Your Feelings and Find Peace by Mia Roldan, LCSW, LCDC
• The Memory Box: A Book About Grief by Joanna Rowland 
• The Goodbye Book by Todd Parr 
• Where Are You? A Child’s Book About Loss by Laura Olivieri
• Something Very Sad Happened: A Toddler’s Guide to Understanding Death by Bonnie Zucker 
• Lifetimes by R. Ingpen and B. Mellonie
• Gentle Willow by J. MillsSad Isn’t Bad by M. Mundy
• The Scar by C. Moundlic
• When Someone Dies: A Children’s Mindful How-To Guide on Grief and Loss by A. Dorn
• Why Do I Feel So Sad?: A Grief Book for Children by T. Lambert
• A Terrible Thing Happened by M. Holmes
• The Invisible String by P. Karst
• Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss by Pat Schwiebert & Chuck DeKlyen
• The Fall of Freddie the Leaf by Leo Buscaglia

Books for children to understand and talk about life-threatening illnesses:

• Butterfly Kisses and Wishes on Wings by Elle McVicker
• Ida, Always by C. Levis
• When Someone You Love Has Cancer by Alaric Lewis
• What Happens When a Kid Has Cancer: A Book About Childhood Cancer for Kids by S. Olsher
• Extraordinary! A Book for Children with Rare Diseases by Evren and Kara Ayik 
• My Life with Leukemia by Mari Schuh
• Little Panda and her Super Heart: A Heart Surgery Story by Marta Almansa Esteva
• Cancer Party! by Sara Olsher
• Ask Puff! A Kid’s Guide to Understanding Cancer by Chelsey Gomez
• Chemotherapy 101 for Kids! An Easy to Understand Guide for Children by Chelsey Gomez
• The Great Katie Kate Tackles Questions About Cancer by M. Maitland Deland, M.D.
• They Call Me Brave by Shane Autumn Nebbia 

Books for children whose siblings are chronically ill/chronically hospitalized:

• Franklin Goes to the Hospital by Paulette Bourgeois
• Hi, My Name is Jack: A book for the Healthy Siblings of Chronically Ill Children by C. Beall-Sullivan
• When Molly was in the Hospital: A Book for Brothers and Sisters of Hospitalized Children by Debbie Duncan
• What Happens When My Sibling has Cancer by Sara Olsher 

Books to focus on feelings with children:

• Glad Monster, Sad Monster by E. Emberley and A. Miranda
• In My Heart: A Book of Feelings by J. Witek
• The Way I Feel by J. Cain
• When Sadness Comes to Call by E. Eland
• My Feelings are a Hurricane by A. Wallick
• Impulsive Ninja by Mary Nhin
• Grumpy Monkey by Suzanne Lang 
• What to Do When it’s Not Fair: A Kid’s Guide to Handling Envy and Jealousy by Jacqueline B. Toner, PhD, and Claire A.B. Freeland, PhD
• Roaring Mad Riley: An Anger Management Story for Kids by Allison Szczecinski, M.Ed.
• Glad Monster, Sad Monster: A Book About Feelings by Ed Emberley and Anne Miranda
• Hey Warrior by Karen Young
• Hey Awesome By Karen Young
• Wreck This Journal by Keri Smith
• A Little SPOT of Emotion Series by Diane Alber
• The Color Monster by Anna Llenas
• The Rabbit Listened by Cori Doerrfeld
• Today I Feel Silly: And Other Moods That Make My Day by Jamie Lee Curtis
• Breathing Makes It Better by Christopher Willard & Wendy O’Leary
• Soda Pop Head by Julia Cook
• Mindfulness for Teens in 10 Minutes a Day by Jennie Marie Battistin
• The Self-Compassion Workbook for Teens by Karen Bluth
• The Emotional Lives of Teenagers by Lisa Damour

Books for parents/caregivers with focus on end of life planning and the dying process:

• Hard Choices for Loving People by H. Dunn
• The Private Worlds of Dying Children by Myra Bluebond-Langner
• Follow the Child: Planning and Having the Best End-of-Life Care for Your Child by Sacha Langton-Gilks
• Supporting the Child and the Family in Paediatric Palliative Care by Erica Brown, Brian Warr, & Sheila Shribman
• Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communications of the Dying by Maggie Callanan and Patricia Kelley
• After the Darkest Hour the Sun Will Shine Again: A Parent’s Guide to Coping With the Loss of a Child by Elizabeth Mehren
• Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff
• Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing by Thomas R. Golden
• The Worst Loss (How Families Heal from the Death of a Child) by Barbara D. Rosof
• Gone from My Sight by B. Karnes
• The Next Place by W. Hanson

Books about miscarriage and infant loss for children:

• Something Happened: A book for parents & children who have experienced pregnancy loss by C. Blanford
• No New Baby by M. Gryte
• Am I Still a Sister? by A. Sims
• We Were Gonna Have a Baby, But We Had an Angel Instead by Pat Schwiebert and Taylor Bills
• Dear Star Baby by Malcolm Newsome
• There Was a Baby by Laura Camerona
• My Sibling Still by Megan Lacourrege
• I Miss the Baby by Irma Prosser and Emma Marsh