7 Children’s Books About Death and Dying

Books to help you start conversations and introduce your children to the concept of death

Disclosure: This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.

Death and dying are hard topics to talk about with children, especially when you are processing and grieving at the same time. Books offer a great starting point in to conversations with your kiddos about this difficult topic.

When it comes to reading books about death to your children, I would highly recommend giving your kiddos exposure to these books before they experience death. By reading books about the topic of death outside of the context of their own life, your child will have the opportunity to begin understanding what death is, how people grieve, and all the emotions surrounding the death of a loved one. Then, when the time sadly comes that they experience the death of someone in their life, they will have an understanding that they can draw from. You can pull out these familiar books to relate to and help your child process their grief.

That being said, it is never too late to get children’s books about death for your own library. These books still offer a fantastic way of explaining death to children and opening the door for conversations with your kiddos in hard times.

If you are not sure how to talk to your kids about death and dying in an appropriate way, make sure to check out my blog post about it. Now…7 fantastic books on the topic of death and dying:

1) The Fall of Freddie the Leaf - by Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D.

This story is written from the perspective of a leaf on a tree named Freddie. Freddie and the other leaves on the tree change with the passing seasons, and eventually fall to the ground in the snowy winter. This allegorical story is incredibly touching (it had me in tears) as we follow Freddie’s journey of fearing and eventually accepting his death. Although this is a totally secular book, it has a sort of spiritual feel to it that many may find reassuring when talking about death.

While you can begin exposing this story to younger children, they will most likely take it much more literally to be about a leaf’s life and death. That being said, if you allow this into your book rotation, your child will begin to pick up on the allegory and it can provide opportunities for you to begin talking about death and dying through the lens of the leaf.

Downside: The book uses the phrase “fell asleep” at the end of the book. I would highly recommend not comparing death to sleep when talking to children about death. You can change the wording when you read the book to your children, or explain to them that the book says that Freddie went to sleep, but what they really meant is that he died.

2.) A Kids Book About Death - by Taryn Schuelke

Like many other books in the “A Kids Book About…” series, this one is an absolute winner. Death is presented in a matter of fact way, but without compromising compassion. This book tackles the hefty topic with honesty as it explains both the practical aspects and the emotional and humanity based aspects to death. The minimalist layout of the text lends itself to starting meaningful conversations with your children. This book is a must have when it comes to starting and navigating conversations around death with children.

3.) Addy’s Cup of Sugar - by Jon J Muth

The young character Addy is riddled with grief and sadness after her cat Trumpet dies. Determined to bring Trumpet back to life, Addy seeks the knowledge of her wise friend Stillwater to make a medicine that will bring him back. Stillwater sends Addy on a search around the neighborhood for a cup of sugar; the only catch is it must come from the home of somebody who has never had someone close to them die. As Addy runs around the neighborhood looking for the sugar, she comes to understand how this special medicine works.

This is a beautiful retelling of the Buddhist tale “The Mustard Seed”. It addresses the universality of death and captures the healing nature of shared humanity in a lovely and touching way. Being able to draw from this book during a time of loss will provide your child a base to understand that they are not alone in their grief and sadness. I highly recommend this book!

4.) Lifetimes - by Bryan Mellonie & Rober Ingpen

This book explains lifetimes in a very child friendly and matter of fact way. Every living thing has a lifetime, with a beginning and an end and everything in between. After going through the same explanation with many other living things, the book concludes with the lifetime of people.

This gentle, yet clear description of life, living, and death is a perfect introduction to explaining death to young children that might not grasp the concept of death quite yet. You can use this book with kiddos as young as toddlers up through older kids who might find comfort in the uncomplicated explanations. This one is a must have!

5.) When Dinosaurs Die - by Laurie Krasny Brown &Marc Brown

This is another straightforward book about death that provides lots of age appropriate explanations. The book has information about what death means, the many reasons why people die, feelings that come up with death, ways that people say good-bye, what comes after someone dies, and ways to remember someone.

I really liked the books way of answering the many questions and curiosities that may come up when children learn about death, such as “will I die too.” This book can be extremely helpful for parents in navigating questions your kiddos have by providing you a starting point for some scripts. This book covers a wide range of topics around death and presents the information in a way that is easily understood and appropriate for even the youngest of readers.

6. The Dead Bird - by Margaret Wise Brown & Christian Robinson

In this book, children find a dead bird in the park. They feel sad that the bird has died and come up with their own ways to say goodbye, eventually burying it and singing sweet songs. This book is lovely in that the children in the book address the death of the bird in very relatable ways for other children. Overall the book shows the process of grief as it often happens for children, mourning the loss, finding ways to remember it, and moving on with their life. This simple little book about a dead bird makes death seem approachable instead of an experience that is insurmountable. A great addition to your home as you integrate topics about death into your library.

7. The Memory Box - by Joanna Rowland

The Memory Box is written from the perspective of a young child after the loss of a loved one. The book describes what it is like to remember someone who has died as the child works through her grief and fears of forgetting the person who has died. The child in the story creates a memory box of mementos to aid her in the grieving process.

Children often thrive when they have concrete things they can do to help them process going through a difficult time. This book does just that, as it encourages creating your own memory box with things and stories to remember loved ones who have died. The child’s feelings and fears find a way out through the creation of the memory box. I love this book for its focus on the process of grieving, whereas other books are great at explaining the practical aspects of death.