Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

I have an olive tree | by Bunting, Eve

On Sophia's seventh birthday, her grandfather gave her an olive tree. Sophia is a little disappointed by the gift and doesn't understand why her grandfather would give her an olive tree that she can't even see. After all, it is Greece and she lives in California! It isn't until her grandfather passes away that Sophia truly understands the importance and meaning of the gift when she and her mother visit the olive tree in Greece.

Keywords: appreciation, birthday, communication, community, culture, customs, dedication, disappointment, emotions, exploration, family, feelings, generations, geology, giving, grandparents, greece, greek, grief, immigrants, instruments, language, learning, loss, love, memories, memory, misunderstanding, music, parents, plants, presents, resentment, sadness, traditions, travel, tree, understanding, verbal communication

Aunt Claire's yellow beehive hair | by Blumenthal, Deborah

Annie, Grandma Marilyn, and Great Aunt Ruth search through family memorabilia as they put together an album to show to their family. While scrapbooking the many memories, Grandma Marilyn and Great Aunt Ruth share stories about makeup, clothing, jewelery, hairdos, and food. Annie learns all about the relatives she never met.

Kaddish for grandpa in Jesus' name amen | by Howe, James

A young girl finds her own spirituality while observing the differing social customs of her Jewish and Christian relatives following her grandfather's sudden death. She interacts with her family to remember her grandfather in special ways at home, at church, and before bed.

Keywords: aging, angel, art, baby, bath, bedtime, behavior, church, dancing, emotions, exercise, family, feelings, food, grandparents, grief, hebrew, hygiene, Jewish, multicultural, mythical, parents, sadness

Let the celebrations begin | by Wild, Margaret//Vivas, Julie

Miram and the women of the camp make toys for children from material scraps and buttons. They plan for a celebration when the soldiers come to free them from the German camp.

Keywords: celebration, clothing, community, conflict resolution, decision making, feelings, food, german, goal setting, grief, happiness, hunger, memory, multicultural, nonverbal communication, party, sadness, self esteem, shelter, stress management, toys, verbal communication, war

Grandma's gone to live in the stars | by Haynes, Max

A much cared about Grandmother says good bye to everyone and the things she loved, before going to live with the stars. Grandma says good bye to her son, daughter, grandchildren, cat, dog, garden, town, and earth as she wears her angel wings to the stars.

Keywords: angel, closeness, coping, death, empathy, family, garden, grandparents, grief, illness, loss, nonverbal communication, sleep, spiritual, stars, stress management, verbal communication

Grandmother bryant's pocket | by Martin, Jacqueline Briggs

Sarah's best friend is her dog Patches. Patches dies in a barn fire and every night after the fire, Sarah has nightmares and wakes up calling for Patches. Sarah goes to her Grandparent's house hoping to cure her from her nightmares. To comfort Sarah, Grandmother gives Sarah her old pocket filled with herbs, scissors, and gold buttons and embroidered with the words no fear, to wear under her skirt. In the meantime Sarah befriends a stray one-eyed cat. Sarah is not cured alone by the pocket full of herbs and the cat's friendship. It is only after a mean neighbor's accident that Sarah becomes…

Keywords: animals, bravery, cat, death, dog, dreams, family, farm, fear, fire, food, garden, grandparents, grief, loss, medicine, neighbors, nutrition, parents, pig, plants, self esteem, storytelling

Swan sky | by Tejima, Keizaburo

During the winter, a young swan becomes ill and is unable to fly to her summer home. Her family stays with her until she dies, then they fly to their summer home and grieve the loss of their daughter.

Keywords: caring, change, conflict resolution, coping, death, family, feelings, grief, illness, loss, sadness, seasons, summer, travel, winter

The tie man's miracle: A chanukah tale | by Schnur, Steven

On the last day of Chanukah, an old man stops by Seth's house to sell ties. After talking with the old man for awhile, Seth learns how the man lost his whole family in the Holocaust. Seth makes a wish for the old man as the menorah candles burn out.

Keywords: baby, coping, exercise, family, feelings, friendship, grief, hanukkah, happiness, history, holidays, Jewish, multicultural, nonverbal communication, parents, sadness, self esteem, siblings, snow, stress management, verbal communication, walking, war, weather

A hanukkah treasury | by Kimmel, Eric

Hanukkah is to me the time for lighting the menorah, spinning the dreidel, and remembering heros from the past. Poetry, music, and recipes help keep the Hanukkah tradition alive!

Keywords: acceptance, accomplishment, adventures, ambition, american, animals, anticipation, appreciation, assertiveness, beliefs, bias, bravery, celebration, ceremony, challenges, change, charity, closeness, communication, conflict, conflict resolution, cooking, courage, critical thinking, culture, customs, decision making, destruction, determination, discrimination, elephant, family, feelings, folktale, food, freedom, games, goal setting, god, grandparents, grief, hanukkah, happiness, hebrew, heroism, history, holidays, hope, immigrants, independence, individuality, israelian, Jewish, kindness, language, love, loyalty, memories, miracle, moose, moving, multicultural, music, parents, peace, pilgrims, poetry, polish, politics, poverty, prayer, prejudice, presents, racism, religion, russian, sadness, secrets, siblings, snow, song, spiritual, storytelling, toys, traditions, war, weather

Turtle spring | by Zagwyn, Deborah Turney

One summer, as young Clee finds herself lost in the shuffle with the arrival of a new baby brother, Uncle Fishtank Hal comes to the rescue when he asks her to care for his special southern-breed turtle. For Clee, caring for the turtle is like therapy to cope with the new changes in her life. That is until the turtle dies due to the harsh cold winter and Clee is forced to bury him out in the yard. Without the turtle, Clee spends time with her new brother and learns to enjoys his company. In spring however, the turtle springs back to like in the compost pile and Clee gains a new outlook on the…

Keywords: affection, author's note, autumn, baby, caring, change, closeness, cold, coping, disappointment, environment, excitement, family, feelings, friendship, geography, grief, guilt, happiness, hibernation, jealousy, loneliness, nonverbal communication, parents, radio, reptiles, sadness, seasons, siblings, snow, spring, stress management, summer, surprises, survival, technology, telephone, turtle, weather, wind, winter

The fall of freddie the leaf | by Buscaglia, Leo

This book explains the process of life and death by utilizing a tree leaf. Each season is depicted and shows how the leaf grows and eventually dies.

Keywords: conflict resolution, critical thinking, death, feelings, grief, nonverbal communication, plants, seasons, verbal communication

The dead bird | by Brown, Margaret Wise//Charlip, Remy

A group of young children find a dead bird. They decide to bury the bird. They take the bird to the woods to give it a proper burial. The children mourned, sang, and planted flowers around the dead bird's grave. The children came back to visit the grave, until they forgot.

Keywords: birds, death, decision making, grief

Grandpa | by Burningham, John

Grandpa and his granddaughter do everything together. Then as Grandpa gets older, he cannot do as much with her. Finally he dies.

Keywords: death, family, grandparents, grief, nonverbal communication, stress management, verbal communication

When grandpa came to stay | by Caseley, Judith

Benny's grandpa visits after his grandma dies. They tell stories, play games, and talk. One day grandpa cries and Benny learns that it is okay to cry.

Keywords: conflict resolution, critical thinking, death, family, feelings, grandparents, grief, stress management, verbal communication

The josefina story quilt | by Coerr, Eleanor

A small girl named Faith had a very special friendship with her goose Josefina. Faith is part of a pioneer family moving West. Throughout their journey, Faith makes a patch to represent each event she encounters, including the death of Jusetina. At the end, the quilt tells the story of the friendship between the goose and the little girl.

Keywords: birds, change, conflict resolution, critical thinking, death, decision making, friendship, goal setting, grief, memories, moving, nonverbal communication, pets, pioneers, problem solving, stress management, transportation, travel, verbal communication

Blow me a kiss, miss lilly | by Carlstrom, Nancy White

A young girl, Sara, has an elderly woman as her best friend. They spend much time together. One day the old woman dies and Sara is very sad. She remembers the good things about her best friend and still feels her love.

Keywords: aging, death, friendship, grief, memories, nonverbal communication, self esteem, stress management, verbal communication

My grandpa died today | by Fassler, Joan

David's grandfather dies. David learns how to deal with the grief by knowing his grandfather went to a better place. This helps David feel better.

Keywords: conflict resolution, death, decision making, family, feelings, grandparents, grief, loss, stress management

Jim's dog muffins | by Cohen, Miriam

Jim's dog, Muffins, gets killed and when he goes to school, he won't talk to anyone. His friend, Paul, makes him laugh and realize that life goes on even after someone you love dies.

Keywords: animals, conflict resolution, death, dog, feelings, grief, happiness, pets, sadness, school, stress management, verbal communication

You hold me and i'll hold you | by 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.

Keywords: coping, critical thinking, death, family, feelings, grief, nonverbal communication, self esteem, stress management, support, verbal communication

The wall | by 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.

Keywords: coping, death, family, grandparents, grief, memories, nonverbal communication, stress management, verbal communication, war

Browse Abstracts (36 total)