Browse Items · Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Tags: loss

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Do you remember?

Smith, Sydney

A boy and his mother trade memories while lying together on the bed. In the darkness of the night, they remember things of their past. The move from their house to an apartment with their belongings is part of their memory making. The boy asks his mother if the moments of remembering could also be a memory.

Tags

bicycle, birthday, body parts, bug, celebration, conversation, day, family, feelings, five senses, food, grandparents, grief, hearing, lightning, loss, memory, night, parents, pattern, picnic, rain, smell, snake, transportation, truck, weather

Only passing through: The story of Sojourner Truth

Rockwell, Anne

A young woman named Isabella leads a strong and courageous life after being sold three times as a slave girl in the northeastern United States. After she is given a freedom day by a couple living nearby who knew of the 1827 New York law to set adults free, Isabella felt the "power of a nation" in court to win back her son who was unlawfully sold out of state. Isabella later heard God calling her to be a sojourner and spread her message about the value of freedom and what it had been like to be a slave. She would ask people "Is this any way to treat a human being"? Sojourner told her truth so well that she took the name Sojourner Truth and carried a white silk banner with the words "Proclaim Liberty" wherever she went.

Tags

african american, children, correspondence, courage, death, faith, family, feelings, fight, god, government, happiness, history, justice, law, loss, money, multicultural, oppression, parents, reading, sadness, singing, slavery, speech, timeline, travel, truth, writing

A different pond

Phi, Bao

A young boy accompanies his dad to catch fish for food before the sunrises and before other family members awake. The dad tells the bait man at the all-night store that he is starting a second job. The boy meets a Hmong man and a black man who are also fishing -- but this time, it is just the boy and his dad under the starlit sky. The boy learns to make a fire and to bait his hook and to honor the stories of his Dad as he explains how life was in Vietnam when he was a boy. When they return home, the dad and mom head to work while the boy looks after his brothers and sisters.

Tags

african american, author's note, bicycle, bodies of water, counting, feelings, fire, fishing, food, hard work, hmong, illustrator's note, language, learning, loss, morning, multicultural, photograph, pond, poverty, refugee, responsibilities, sadness, siblings, sleep, storytelling, teeth, tree, vietnamese, war, work

The notebook keeper: A story of kindness from the border

Briseno, Stephen

Families seeking asylum into the U.S. at the Tijuana, Mexico border have to wait for a long time to enter the United States after being denied entry. During the wait at the border, a girl and her mother look for a refugee who keeps a list of people waiting to cross into the United States. This act of kindness from the border, initiated by a notebook keeper, gives families hope as they wait.

Tags

asylum, author's note, central america, change, correspondence, Days of The Week, El Salvador, faith, feelings, food, guatemalan, haitian, history, hope, kindness, loneliness, loss, Mexico, multicultural, numbers, patience, perspective, refugee, safety, silence, travel, volunteer, writing

Ida B. Wells, voice of truth

Duster, Michelle

Ira B. Wells was an educator, feminist, and anti-lynching civil rights leader who founded many important clubs for African Americans. Even when faced with threats and criticisms, Ida B. Wells still kept writing, speaking, and traveling to challenge the racist and sexist norms of her time and leading the fight for justice and equality as a leader who made a difference for us all.

Tags

african american, author's note, careers, change, children, correspondence, courage, education, equality, justice, leadership, loss, marriage, multicultural, newspaper, organizations, photograph, politics, racism, slavery, suffrage, teaching, technology, train, transportation, travel, truth

Blue

Seeger, Laura Vaccaro

A boy and his dog go through their lives together and experience different things associated with the color blue. Whether they are playing with blue butterflies or picking blue blueberries together, they love spending time with each other. One day, the boy’s dog passes away and, with time, he gets a new puppy to share his life with.

Tags

activities, animals, baby, balloon, beach, birds, bodies of water, books, butterfly, cardinal, colors, companion, death, dog, feelings, insects, loss, love, play, rain, reading, relationship, running, sadness, sea, sledding, sleep, snow, transportation, wagon, weather

The phone booth in Mr. Hirota's garden

Smith, Heather

Makio and his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, loved looking out at the ocean every morning while watching Makio’s father and Mr. Hirota’s daughter working. One day, a tsunami came and killed their family members, prompting Mr. Hirota to build a telephone booth as a way to cope with his grief. Soon after, Makio and Mr. Hirota began speaking into a disconnected telephone while communicating with the loved ones they lost.

Tags

bodies of water, community, companion, construction, death, earthquake, feelings, games, grief, loss, ocean, onomatopoeia, respect, sadness, sea, storytelling, technology, telephone, wish

My wiggly smile

Woodruff, Amira

Olive wakes up one day and finds that she has a loose tooth! She runs downstairs to tell her parents and keeps wiggling it all day, but it won't come out! At school, Olive talks to a girl named Jordan who tells her about the "My Wiggly Smile" which says to keep track of the teeth she's lost. When Olive gets home, her dad surprises her with a "My Wiggly Smile" book of her own, and they leave for the dentist where Olive's tooth is finally pulled by the dentist. That night, while she is fast asleep, the Tooth Fairy comes to visit Olive, and she wakes up with a gift under her pillow!

My tooth is about to fall out

Maccarone, Grace

A little girl describes her wiggly tooth and all the places where she doesn't want it to fall out. Then, while she is eating spaghetti, the tooth falls into her bowl and a giant hole is left in her mouth. That night, she places the tooth that fell out under her pillow, and the Tooth Fairy leaves her a nice little surprise for her in the morning!

Tags

accomplishment, appearance, behavior, body parts, conflict resolution, decision making, excitement, growing up, loss, missing, nonverbal communication, patience, storytelling, surprises, teeth, tooth fairy, verbal communication

A toothbrush tale

Smith, Stacy

A little boy goes to sleep one night without brushing his teeth, and then he hears a song coming from his bathroom. When he goes to investigate the noise, he finds his toothbrush singing and dancing about why it is so important to brush his teeth every morning and night. Scared that he will develop cavities (or even worse, that his teeth might fall out), the little boy brushes his teeth well and continues to do so every day in order to keep a healthy smile!

Our Gracie aunt

Woodson, Jaqueline

A brother and sister are taken into foster care with their Aunt Gracie. Aunt Gracie welcomes the kids with delicious treats and teaches them how to cook. The kids go to visit their mother and then they return to their Aunt Gracie.

Tags

african american, anger, birds, body parts, caring, cooking, family, feelings, food, foster care, hunger, loss, love, multicultural, neglect, neighbor, restaurant, shoes, singing, trust, vegetables

Anna's corn

Santucci, Barbara

Anna visits Grandpa's cornfield. She can hear the corn making beautiful music as the wind blows. Grandpa gets Anna corn kernels to plant next autumn, and the two agree that Anna will grow corn on her own. That winter, Grandpa dies. Anna wants to hold onto the seeds to remember Grandpa. She decides to plant them instead so she can hear the corn make music again. By next fall, the corn grows, Anna hears the music, and she collects kernels to plant corn for next year.

Tags

conflict resolution, coping, death, decision making, family, farm, farmer, feelings, five senses, food, garden, grandparents, hearing, illness, loss, month, nutrition, rain, reading, rhythm, role model, sadness, seasons, signs, song, stress management, vegetables, weather, writing

Sweet tooth

Palatini, Margie

Stewart has a sweet tooth that repeatedly gets him into trouble. Stewart tells his sweet tooth that it is time for him to be healthy. Stewart eats healthy and practices oral hygiene. Stewart then pulls out the "sweet tooth" and the tooth fairy visits.

Anna's heaven

Hole, Stian

Anna's mother dies. She and her father have many questions for God about where Anna's mom went and what heaven is like. Anna's dad follows Anna through her imagination and the two find peace through the many great things and ideas that Anna imagines of her mother's new world.

Tags

change, death, feelings, grief, hope, loss, nonverbal communication, parents, peace, problem solving, sadness, verbal communication

Flags

Trottier, Maxine

A young child enjoys a neighbors garden when spending time at his grandparents house. Mr. Hinoshi's garden allows the children to learn until one day Mr. Hinoshi is taken away. The child cares for Mr Hinoshi's garden in his absence until new neighbors move in. The child plants her own garden in honor of Mr. Hiroshi. The flags are symbolically named for Japanese irises.

Tags

change, community, culture, family, flowers, friendship, garden, grandparents, japanese, loss, love, neighbors, plants

Mr. Tanen's tie trouble

Cocca-Leffler, Maryann

The principal of Lynnhurst School, Mr. Tanen, is known for his unbelievable collection of 975 ties. He has a tie for every occasion! When the plan for the new playground falls through, everyone is shocked to see Mr. Tannen part with his beloved ties as he auctions them off so that the children at Lynnhurst School can enjoy their new playground.

I have an olive tree

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.

Tags

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

Dragon in the rocks: A story based on the childhood of early paleontologist Mary Anning

Day, Marie

A twelve year old girl loves to find and dig out fossils from the cliffs along the beach. She helps out her family financially by selling the fossils. She uncovers a rare dinosaur and digs it out by herself. Her determination shows as she pieces the puzzle together.

Tags

beach, bodies of water, bones, critical thinking, death, determination, dinosaur, england, extinction, family, fossil, goal setting, history, loss, market, museum, ocean, parents, rhyme, sequence, siblings

My big brother

Cohen, Miriam

A little boy idolizes his big brother and wants to be exactly like him. They do everything together. When his family cannot pay for college, the older child joins the army. His little brother then takes his place being big brother to their youngest sibling.

Tags

african american, basketball, car, church, correspondence, family, feelings, food, happiness, loss, love, multicultural, nutrition, sadness, siblings, sports, television, transportation, writing

For sure! For sure!

Andersen, Hans Christian

Did you know that chickens gossip too? Come read about one chick that plucks out her feathers, supposedly to look good and impress her rooster. After one of her feathers is plucker, an owl sees her actions and spreads the word. The story gets turned around and exaggerated especially when the newspaper prints it.

Tags

animals, bat, behavior, birds, chicken, death, differences, fable, family, feelings, fly, friendship, gossip, hearing, loss, love, newspaper, owl, peace, play, storytelling, truth

My name was hussein

Kyuchukov, Hristo

Hussein is a young boy who lives in Bulgaria. He and his family are Muslim and are forced to give up their identities when soldiers come. Hussein is renamed Harry but he holds onto his real name and faith traditions. A pictorial view of this is depicted throughout the story as Hussein tries to understand what is happening around him.

Grandpa's soup

Kadono, Eiko

Grandpa is lonely after Grandma dies. He wants to make meatball soup just like his wife use to make. Each day after Grandpa makes the soup, friends come and eat it with him. Grandpa finds that eating the soup with friends helps to ease his loneliness.

Papa's latkes

Edwards, Michelle

A Jewish family deals with the recent death of their mother and wife, while trying to keep their Chanukan traditions alive. Each family member deals with their emotions. They work as a single parent family to move on, while embracing their traditions of the past.

The snow goose

Gallico, Mary//Gallico, Paul

A young, naive girl attempts to understand her environment in the midst of war. She does this through the love of the birds who live in this area.

Tags

autumn, birds, bodies of water, critical thinking, decision making, feelings, fog, goose, happiness, history, loss, love, nonverbal communication, rain, sadness, sea, seasons, snow, spring, summer, sun, verbal communication, war, weather, winter

Sweet dried apples: A vietnamese wartime childhood

Breckler, Rosemary

It is wartime in Vietnam, and a little girl who lives in the country is faced with the prospect of her father leaving for the army. Her father, the village herb doctor, comes to stay with them until he dies. Their village is bombed and the little girl and her family must flee Vietnam.

Tags

change, community, death, grandparents, language, loss, market, plants, siblings, travel, vietnamese, war

Little fox goes to the end of the world

Tompert, Ann

Little fox tells his mother about traveling to the end of the world. He tells elaborate stories of the things he encounters. At the end, he tells his mother that he misses her and comes straight home.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, change, coping, decision making, family, feelings, fox, loss, nonverbal communication, parents, storytelling, travel, verbal communication

A smooth move

Rabe, Berniece

Gus and his family move from Portland to Washington D.C. when his dad starts a new job. He keeps a journal to help the move go smoothly. While he misses his friends, Gus knows he will like his new home.

Tags

airplane, anticipation, careers, change, coping, correspondence, family, friendship, loss, moving, parents, school, stress management, transportation, travel, verbal communication

Wash day

Cole, Barbara H.

Every wash day, Granpa plays his trumpet, keeping the children entertained while Miss. Ett does the wash. This music tradition stays strong until grandpa becomes ill and a tragedy occurs, causing grandpa to pass on his beloved trumpet to begin a new tradition.

Tags

clothing, family, feelings, fire, friendship, grandparents, happiness, helping, illness, instruments, loss, memories, multicultural, music, neighbors, parents, president, pretend, respect, sadness, traditions, train, work

Silly chicken

Khan, Rukhsana

Rani is jealous of Amiﾒs affection for Bibi, a chicken. Rani finally learns how to lay an egg - much to the motherﾒs delight. However, when left alone one day, the chicken dies and Ami is sad. An egg from Bibi is found, which hatches a new baby chick.

Tags

affection, animals, assertiveness, birth, chicken, death, decision making, dog, family, feelings, jealousy, loss, multicultural, pakistani, parents, sadness, self esteem, verbal communication

Desser the best ever cat

Smith, Margaret

A little girl learns all about the hardships of losing a pet. However, her love for Desser is not lost in his death. Instead, she chooses to keep her memories of Desser alive. Even after Ginger, the new kitten, joins the family the little girl still chooses to remember Desser as the best ever cat

Tags

aging, animals, cat, companion, death, decision making, family, feelings, growing up, happiness, loss, memories, parents, pets, sadness, siblings, stress management

The heroic symphony

Harwell-Celenza, Anna

Ludwig Van Beethoven learns he is going deaf. He is an accomplished and promising young pianist and this devastates him. Beethoven realizes his condition is actually leading to his destiny not his downfall. In creating his symphony no. 3 he searches for a hero on which to base his musical inspiration. He eventually realizes it is about him!

I lost my tooth in africa

Diakite, Penda

Amina and her parents take a trip to Mali to visit family. On the way, Amina realizes that her tooth is loose! While visiting her father's family, Amina loses the tooth and places it under a calabash tree. She receives a hen and a rooster from the African Tooth Fairy.

Tags

africa, african, airplane, animals, birds, body parts, cattle, change, chicken, community, cooking, cow, culture, differences, donkey, family, food, games, garden, goat, grandparents, language, loss, maps, morning, multicultural, music, night, parents, pattern, pheasant, play, prayer, recipe, singing, sleep, song, storytelling, teeth, traditions, travel, tree, vacation, village, wish

If nathan were here

Bahr, Mary

Nathan was a brother, a wonderful best friend, and a great classmate. Then one day, Nathan was gone. If Nathan Were Here tells a story of what it is like for a community and family to lose a loved one. This book shows us the true need and meaning for friendship.

Tags

baseball, change, coping, death, family, feelings, friendship, happiness, loss, love, memories, nonverbal communication, sadness, school, siblings, sports, stress management

The promise quilt

Ransom, Candice

A little girl, living in the mountaintops of Virginia, wants to go to school. Her father promises to send her when she is old enough, but he goes off to fight in the civil war. During the war the school and books are burned. Find a special way to build a new school.

Tags

books, critical thinking, decision making, family, fear, feelings, goal setting, history, loss, parents, poverty, prayer, quilt, reading, rhyme, sadness, siblings, war, writing

Miss Bridie chose a shovel

Conner, Leslie

In 1856, Miss Bridie traveled to America with only her family shovel. She finds many uses for her shovel and it proves to be the right choice. She carves her path through life with a simple everyday shovel.

Tags

aging, baby, critical thinking, death, drought, exercise, family, farm, feelings, flood, flowers, garden, happiness, history, ice, immigrants, loss, marriage, parents, plants, sadness, seasons, ship, siblings, skating, tools, transportation, travel

The red piano

Leblanc-Barroux, Andre

A young pianist is sent to a re-education camp in China. She lives for her secretive two hours of music after a long day's work. Her parents managed to send a piano to Mother Han's house and she manages to smuggle music in notebooks. One night the pianist is caught at the piano, forcing her to live through an extended-re-education while her love and talent for music are challenged.

Bird

Elliot, Zetta

Mehkai struggles with the challenges of life: death of his grandfather and his older brother's drug addition. He soon learns how to cope and manage his stress through drawing. In fact, drawing is an outlet for Bird's emotions and imagination. Mehkai learns the benefits of perseverance, hard work, and family.

Tags

african american, aggression, airplane, art, birds, buildings, crime, day, death, decision making, drawing, dreams, drugs, emotions, family, feelings, grandparents, hard work, imagination, instruments, loss, museum, music, park, problem solving, relationship, robbery, school, siblings, storytelling, stress management, technology

Lyle, lyle crocodile

Waber, Bernard

A crocodile named Lyle has a big impact on those he meets in his community. One day, a member of his family loses his job. In the end this bad event is turned around into a job well done by everyone.

Tags

animals, baby, car, careers, change, child care, community, coping, crocodile, dog, exercise, family, feelings, food, friendship, ghosts, halloween, happiness, holidays, loss, monsters, mythical, nonverbal communication, nutrition, refusal skills, reptiles, sadness, self esteem, stress management, teamwork, transportation, walking, witches

Star of fear, star of hope

Hoelstlandt, Jo

Helen doesn't understand why her best friend, Lydia, has to wear a yellow star. On the eve of Helen's birthday, Nazis begin rounding up Jews. Their friendship is lost forever.

Tags

assertiveness, bias, change, confusion, decision making, family, friendship, history, Jewish, loss, missing, nonverbal communication, parents, separation, stereotypes, stress management, verbal communication

Grandma's gone to live in the stars

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.

Tags

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

I hate goodbyes

Szaj, Kathleen

Katie hates goodbyes!She would rather sing at the top of her lungs, yell at her teddy bear or wiggle her loose teeth than tell her loved ones goodbye. Her family helps her cope with goodbyes, then very soon she will be saying hellos.

Tags

airplane, anger, bedtime, change, chicken pox, coping, family, feelings, food, friendship, grandparents, illness, loss, nonverbal communication, parents, refusal skills, sadness, separation, teeth, toys

Peacebound trains

Balgassi, Haemi

Sumi, a young Korean girl, lives with her grandmother when her mother goes off to the army. Sumi watches the train go by each day, wishing her mother would come home soon. The train reminds her grandmother of the days of war when she had to leave her own husband.

Tags

affection, aging, birthday, caring, change, chinese, coping, courage, death, destruction, dolls, family, feelings, freedom, grandparents, hope, korean, loss, multicultural, peace, presents, sadness, school, seasons, train, transportation, understanding, war, winter

Billy and the big new school

Anholt, Laurence

Billy is very nervous about starting at his new school. He wants to stay home with his mother. Then he meets a small bird who is hurt and cannot fly. Billy takes care of it until it is ready to fly again. Find out how Billy gets himself ready to go to school and how he uses his bird story to make a friend.

Tags

animals, birds, blackbird, bravery, bully, change, clothing, conflict resolution, dreams, excitement, fear, feelings, food, friendship, loss, parents, pets, picnic, pigeon, preparation, school, self esteem, sparrow, starling, teaching, thrush, wish, worry

I'll always love you

Wilhelm, Hans

A little boy grows up with his dog Elfie and they do everything together. When Elfie dies, the boy is very sad. He knows that he can get another dog, but no dog will replace Elfie.

Tags

change, companion, conflict resolution, coping, death, feelings, loss, love, nonverbal communication, pets, sadness, self esteem, stress management, verbal communication

My dad is really something

Osborn, Lois

Harry and his friend Ron compare their fathers. Harry becomes upset because Ron's father seems to be so much better than his father. As is turns out, Ron is making everything up because his dad had died a few years ago.

Tags

conflict resolution, confusion, coping, death, deception, decision making, feelings, friendship, loss, memories, refusal skills, role model, self esteem, storytelling, verbal communication

Grandmother bryant's pocket

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 more brave and confident and the nightmares stop.

Tags

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

Nana

Hoopes, Lyn Littlefield

In dealing with the recent death of her Nana, a girl escapes to nature, which brings back memories of things Nana taught her about the fern and chickadee. Through her memories she realizes that Nana will always be with her.

Tags

birds, change, chickadee, coping, death, family, feelings, grandparents, loss, memories, memory, nature, plants, sadness

Mom and dad break up

Prestine, Joan Singleton

A young boy expresses his feelings about his parents' divorce. He feels angry, sad, and lonely at the same time, and often takes it out on his friends. But eventually, he learns to adjust to the change, and learns that he is not at fault for the break up of his parents.

Tags

aggression, anger, art, biking, conflict resolution, coping, divorce, dreams, exercise, feelings, food, friendship, frustration, illness, loneliness, loss, parents, picnic, play, reading, sadness, seasons, self esteem, separation, skating, sledding, snow, winter

Moving is hard

Prestine, Joan Singleton

A young girl is sad that she has to move from her house. She must leave her friends, her school, and all of her favorite things, like playing baseball and running in the fields with her dog. She soon makes new friends, though, and learns her new apartment is not much different from her old neighborhood and begins to like it.

Tags

acceptance, animals, baseball, books, bus, change, coping, dog, exercise, feelings, friendship, loneliness, loss, moving, neighbors, park, refusal skills, running, sadness, school, sports, transportation

The storyteller

Weisman, Joan

Lottie moves from her Indian Pueblo village to the city. She misses her Pueblo life until she meets an old woman with whom she shares old Pueblo stories. A new friendship is made when they share their stories.

Tags

change, coping, friendship, loneliness, loss, memories, moving, multicultural, native american, sharing, storytelling

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