Skip to main content
  • Tags: death
A gift for abuelita: Celebrating the day of the dead
Luenn, Nancy
Rosita and her grandmother are very close. Rosita's grandmother teaches Rosita how to braid, garden, and make tortillas. When Rosita's grandmother dies, Rosita feels a great loss without her around and misses her terribly. Her family tells Rosita that she can make a gift to give to her grandmother on the Day of the Dead. Rosita braids a cord that is filled with love and memories for her grandmother.

The cowboy and the black-eyed pea
Johnston, Tony
After her father dies, Farethee Well, is left with a huge herd of longhorns on a big Texas farm to find a husband to help her run it. She must determine whether or not he is a real cowboy by his sensitivity while riding a horse with a blackeyed pea under the saddle.


The black dog who went into the woods
Hurd, Edith Thacher
When Black Dog doesn't come home, his family searches the nearby woods and calls their neighbors looking for him. That night, each of the family members dreams about Black Dog. The next morning they realize it was Black Dogs way of saying good-bye to them as he died.

Christmas with grandfather
Wolf, Winfried
After the death of his father, Thomas is not looking forward to Christmas. Christmas at his grandfather's house in the country changes that when Thomas receives a special gift.

You hold me and i'll hold you
Carson, Jo
This story deals with death through the eyes of a child. It displays different emotions and questions a child may have. It expresses worry and comfort provided by family members.

Everett anderson's goodbye
Clifton, Lucille
After his father's death, Everett learns how to accept this loss. The young boy suffers through the five stages of grief to learn that even when someone you love dies, your love for them does not die.

The wall
Bunting, Eve
A father and son go to the Vietnam Memorial Wall to see the boy's grandfather's name. The little boy does not understand the wall at first, but this experience tells him a little about how his grandfather died.

Time for uncle joe
Jewell, Nancy
A little girl remembers her uncle who has died. She talks about what they did together, and the things that remind her of his coming and going.

Nana upstairs and nana downstairs
dePaola, Tomie
Tommy loves both Nana Downstairs because she is always in the kitchen and a great-grandma, Nana Upstairs, because she is always in bed. Both of them eventually die, and Tommy grows up and learns how to deal with death.

Losing uncle tim
Jordan, Mary Kate
A little boy tells a story of how he watches his Uncle Tim, who he looks up to and likes to spend time with, die of AIDS. He learns about death and funerals and inherits some of his favorite toys of his uncle's.

Fox song
Bruchac, Joseph
Jamie remembers her grandmother and all the things that they did together. These memories help Jamie deal with the loss of her grandmother.

The two of them
Aliki.
A little girl spends time with her grandfather. They go shopping for food, share a meal together and grow fruit in the garden. An apple tree becomes a good way for the girl to remember her grandfather forever.

Badger's parting gifts
Varley, Susan
When Badger dies, the rest of the animals are very sad. It is not until they remember all of the good times with Badger that they get over their sadness.

Go tell aunt rhody
Quackenbush, Robert
There is a rumor going around town that Aunt Rhody's old grey goose is dead. Come sing this popular folk song!

The keeping quilt
Polacco, Patricia
When a Russian family moves to America they decide that in order to keep their heritage, a quilt that has been added on to by generation after generation, will be their way of keeping them together.

Grandpa's slide show
Gould, Deborah
Sam and Douglas love visiting their grandparents. When they are at their grandparents house, they always watch old slides. However, this is interrupted for a while when their Grandfather dies and they learn to deal with death.

Island boy
Cooney, Barbara
Matthais learns many skills with age. He always returns to his island home and eventually watches new generations of families grow and learn the island ways

Day of the dead
Johnston, Tony
A Mexican family spends many days preparing for the celebration of the Day of the Dead, one of Mexico's most important holidays. They eat food, sing, dance and use flowers to celebrate and honor the family members who have passed on.

Mary ann
James, Betsy
A moving of a best friend is sad for a young girl. She befriends a praying mantis and names it after her best friend. She must cope with the death of the mantis and the surprise at the end.

Saying goodbye to daddy
Vigna, Judith
A young girl copes with the death of her father. Her mother and grandfather help her through the painful grieving after the car accident.

Terrible things
Bunting, Eve
This story paints the bleak picture of the Terrible Things which takes each of the animals in a clearing. The Terrible Things are equated to hunters.

Three young pilgrims
Harness, Cheryl
The pilgrims journey to America aboard the Mayflower. When they land, they meet Native Americans.

Helen the fish
Kroll, Virginia
Hannah's big brother gets her a goldfish for her third birthday. Hannah takes great care of her and names her Helen. Three years later, Helen dies. As time goes by, Hannah's hurt goes away.

Go tell aunt rhody
Aliki.
This illustrated version of the children's folk song tells about a goose that dies and is then used to stuff a feather bed.

The terrible troll-bird
D'Aulaire, Ingri//D'Aulaire, Edgar
Four brothers and sisters are sent to the woods to get firewood and encounter a troll-bird. This causes a lot of trouble and they have to kill it which brings even more trouble!

The legend of the veery bird
Hague, Kathleen
A shy boy with a stuttering problem loses his father. After he runs to the forest to get away, the keeper of the Forest helps him by giving the world a bird with a beautiful voice.

When violet died
Kantrowitz, Mildred
Saddened by her pet's death, Eva suddenly thinks of a way to make life go on forever.

Old black fly
Aylesworth, Jim
An old black fly bothers a crazy mixed-up family by flying around and interrupting every aspect of their lives. The fly progresses through the alphabet by landing first on an apple pie, a baby, cookies, then a dog.

Cricket boy
Ziner, Feenie
Hu Sing's father is asked to come to the emperor's palace to fight his champion cricket against the emperor's own champion. In trying to protect the cricket, Hu Sing accidentally kills it, and then kills himself, until he has a strange dream.

The mountains of tibet
Gerstein, Mordicai
A boy has dreams of visiting the world. He grows up and dies in the same city. Once he dies, he has a chance to live again as any animal, in any planet, in any country, and with any parents. He chooses the same life, except he decides to be a girl.

Waiting to sing
Kaplan, Howard
A young boy loves playing the piano but especially listening to his father play while his mother sings along. The boy's mother also listens to him play. Shortly after the boy, his sister, and his father come back from a vacation at the beach, the mother dies. Playing the piano helps the young boy and his father cope with their loss.

Molly's rosebush
Cohn, Janice
A young girl deals with the loss of her newborn sibling. After spending time with her grandmother, she is better able to understand death.

Ouch!
Babbit, Natalie
A baby born with the destiny of marrying a princess is brought by the King and thrown into the river to prevent a possible marriage with his newborn daughter. Rescued by a loving couple, the boy grows up and meets the King once again. The Kings plan to kill the young man backfires again and the young man marries the princess. As a test, the King sends the new prince to steal the golden hairs off the devil's head. In a surprise ending, the prince prevails, but the King is not so lucky.

Peace crane
Hamanaka, Sheila
A young African American girl learns about the Peace Crane, created by Sadako Sasaki, survivor of Hiroshima. The girl wishes the Peace Crane would take her away from the violence in her own world to a place without racism and violence.

Cold feet
DeFelice, Cynthia
Playing the bagpipes is Willie McPhee's favorite form of entertainment, but because his audience is unable to pay for his entertainment, Willie is forced to leave. On his journey to find money, he becomes tired and his clothes wear out. Across the forest he sees a dead man and since his shoes are torn, he takes the dead man's boots. As he approaches a house to find hospitality, see how the dead man comes back to haunt him.

The sleeping lady
Dixon, Ann
Nekatla and Susitha are a young couple preparing to wed. THe wedding is put on hold when war breaks out, and Nekatla must travel to another village to try to restore peace. Susitha waits on a grassy hill for Nekatla to return, and she falls asleep. Nekatla is killed in war, and Susitha never awakens and is now known as the sleeping lady.

Tiger flowers
Quinlan, Patricia
Joel's uncle, Michael, dies of AIDS. Joel remembers the fun times he and Michael spent together. These happy memories help to comfort Joel.

Some smug slug
Edwards, Pamela Duncan
A smug slug strolls on soil toward a slope. A sparrow, spider, swallow tail and other animals attempt to stop the slug from slithering up the slope, but it does not listen. Unfortunately the slop was a frog. Gulp!

The three little pigs
Galdone, Paul
When three little pigs leave home to seek their fortune, each builds a house made of various materials. A mean wolf blows down the houses of the first and second pigs, then eats them for dinner. The wolf is outsmarted by the third pig who cooks the wolf for dinner.

Who can kill the lion?
deLeeuw, Adele
A mean lion enters a village and gobbles up many people. The villigers are frightened as people from all over the world try to kill the lion but fail. A little Mexican boy uses his knowledge to capture but not kill the lion.

The gingerbread boy
Galdone, Paul
In desire for a boy of their own, a couple bakes a gingerbread boy. The gingerbread boy comes to life, and runs for freedom while being chased by hungry people. A fox, who outsmarts the boy, ends up with a tasty snack.

Henny penny
Galdone, Paul
An acorn falls on Henny Penny's head and she thinks the sky is falling. She goes to tell the king, and a few of her friends go with her. A fox lures them into his cave and eats up Henny Penny and her friends.

Gray fox
London, Jonathan
The life cycle of the gray fox is shown including a caring little boy who lays the fox to rest and says a prayer for his spirit.

There was an old lady who swallowed a fly
Taback, Simms
There once was a lady who ate so much that it got her into trouble. She eats everything from a fly to a horse. In the end her body cannot take the horse and she dies. The moral of the story is stop at the cow and don't eat the horse.

Cassie's journey
Harvey, Brett
A young girl deals with hardships and dangers when traveling. Her family moves from Illinois to California by wagon in the 1860's.

Better with two
Joosse, Barbara M.
An old lady, and her dog have a regular routine everyday. And when Laura, the girl next door sees Mrs. Brady alone instead of with Max she wonders why. When Laura finds out Max died, she finds comfort in her mom and then consoles Mrs. Brady, because two is better than one.

The lorax
Seuss, Dr.
Trees are being destroyed in a small town and the lorax tries to stop the business that uses the trees to make clothes. Finally, all the trees are gone and the animals are dying, so a young boy decides to plant trees all over town.

What's alive
Zoehfeld, Kathleen Weidner
Understand the simple distinctions between living and nonliving things. Experience the living things through plants and animals. Experience the nonliving things through objects such as a rock. The cycles of life and materials for living are explained as well.

Across the wide dark sea: The mayflower journey
Van Leeuwen, Jean
A young boy and his family leave England with many other people to search for a new life in a new land. They dream of finding a place where they can worship God in their own way. During their journey, everyone endures many hardships, but they find what they are looking for.