Books to help you with grief
Find books to help children and young adults cope with grief.
Mum's jumper, by Jayde Perkin
If Mum has gone, how do you carry on? Missing her feels like a dark cloud that follows you around, or like swimming to a shore that never comes any nearer. But memories are like a jumper that you can cuddle and wear. And Mum's jumper might be a way to keep her close. A simple, heartfelt and ultimately uplifting book for anyone coping with loss.
A manual for heartache, by Cathy Rentzenbrink
When Cathy Rentzenbrink was still a teenager, her happy family was torn apart by an unthinkable tragedy. In 'A Manual for Heartache' she describes how she learnt to live with grief and loss and find joy in the world again. She explores how to cope with life at its most difficult and overwhelming and how we can emerge from suffering forever changed, but filled with hope.
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Clownfish, by Alan Durant
Dak's dad has been dead for seven days when suddenly he reappears. He's the same in almost every way, with one startling exception: Dad has turned into a clownfish, and now lives in a tank at their local aquarium.
Dak is delighted by the news – he has Dad back, even if he isn't quite as he was before. Deciding to keep Dad's transformation a secret, Dak visits him at the aquarium as often as he can, and ends up spending so much time there that they offer him a job. This is how he comes to meet Violet, the owner's prickly but kindhearted niece; when the aquarium is threatened with closure, the pair must work together to save it.
For Dak, the stakes couldn't be higher … after all, if the aquarium shuts down, what will happen to the fish?
If all the world were, by Joseph Coelho and Allison Colpoys
A moving, lyrical picture book about a young girl's love for her granddad and how she copes when he dies, written by poet and playwright Joseph Coelho. This powerful and ultimately uplifting text is the ideal way to introduce children to the concept of death and dying, particularly children who have lost a grandparent.
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Kite spirit, by Sita Brahmachari
During the summer of her GCSEs Kite's world falls apart. Her best friend, Dawn, commits suicide after a long struggle with pressure. Kite's dad takes her to the Lake District, to give her time and space to grieve. Kite senses Dawn's spirit around her and is consumed by powerful, confusing emotions: anger, guilt, sadness and frustration.