Grief Lending Library

• Helping Children & Teens

Because “grieving for an animal can be a pretty lonely place,” Barbara Abercrombie created this joyful, poignant, funny, and smart collection of commiseration. The essays highlight the sometimes surprising things animals add to a household — and how their loss reverberates.

• Death of a Pet

In this heartfelt book Marilyn Adams shares the loss of her 11-year-old son in a farm incident as well as the process and tremendous growth she experienced to find meaning and purpose today.

• Death of a Child

Helps give a renewed awareness that death is a vital fact of life. The more than fifty literary selections face death with simplicity, dignity, honesty, and humor.

• General

• Historical

In this collection of essays, 25 women open their hearts and share their stories of how they have survived and even gathered strength from the loss of their fathers.

• General

• Death of a Father

Explains why the loss of a parent is different from other loses, and using examples from her own experience, the author shows how it is possible to work through the grief.

• General

• Death of a Parent

Ages 8-12. As a parent and a grandparent, Randy Alcorn knows how important it is to pass along the biblical truths about Heaven. So in Heaven for Kids, Randy has adapted his best-selling book Heaven for a younger generation. He’s made all the great information and fresh teaching accessible and applicable for kids. Set up in an easy question-and-answer format.

• Children

• Religious

This story is about a child whose father dies at home. It follows the family from the night of the father's death through the days following the funeral. The feelings of the child and the events surrounding her father's death are realistically portrayed and caringly addressed. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the text is rich and descriptive. This is an excellent resource for families who are experiencing, or will soon experience, the death of a family member.'

• Children

A wonderful, helpful book filled with information and guidance. Treats this serious subject with sympathetic feelings. An excellent guide allowing us to understand that we are not alone with our grief. Anyone who has a pet should read it.

• Death of a Pet

When Isabel Allende’s daughter, Paula, became gravely ill and fell into a coma, the author began to write the story of her family for her unconscious child. A powerful autobiography who straightforward acceptance of the magical and spiritual worlds will remind readers of her first book, The House of the Spirits.

• Death of a Child

"To shed more lights on a matter of universal concern and to help us better understand why a suicide might happen, the people in this book have volunteered to share their lives."

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Historical

A deep compassionate insight into the realm of self-destruction from a personal, literary and existential point of view.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Suicide / Historical

Deals with the physical as well as emotional aspects of terminal illness. A very practical guide for caregivers.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Cancer

For the very young; text and photographs present the concept of death, the importance of grief, and the customs of mourning.

• Children

• Historical

The words for this book were written long ago as a poem. The poem is now part of the Bible, called Ecclesiastes. It tells about the cycle of life. In the Bible, God says that he will change the pattern of good and bad that we see all around us. God can turn our sadness into dancing. He wants to give us a life that last forever, a life with him on a healed earth with no sickness, no crying and no death-ever!

• Children

• Religious

In this hopeful five-book set, a mother and her three children ages 5, 7 and 19 share their story after the suicide death of husband and father Don, in 2002. Their reflections are captured in their own words and through poignant art by artist/storyteller Laurie Phillips

• Suicide

A middle-aged daughter helps her parents take one last journey together. As they drive through the fall mountain colors and long stretches of western highways, she recalls treasured childhood memories, agonizes with her father over his daily struggles against cancer, and ultimately understands what is being passed on to her.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Cancer

On the morning of February 6, 1991, Dennis Apple discovered the lifeless body of his son on their family room couch. Eighteen-year-old Denny had died without warning from what was later explained as complications due to Mono. Sixteen years later, Dennis still struggles with living in a world without his son.Life After the Death of My Son shares a glimpse of the unspeakable pain, helplessness, frustration, and eventual healing that Dennis and his wife, Buelah, have experienced since losing their son.

• Death of a Child

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

The authors memoir of life with his beloved Ginny and the battle with Alzheimer’s that consumed her. From their first meeting in 1943 or Ginny’s final home in a care facility, Artley recounts his story of their marriage, family and careers, came the undeniable evidence of Ginny’s mental decline. Faced with the pain and confusion of Ginny’s illness, Artley and his family had to learn to cope with the grim details and long good-bye of Alzheimer’s disease.

• Alzheimer's Disease

• Partner's Illness / Anticipatory / Before the Death

With warmth and compassion, the author highlights seven concerns that she has found to be important to people who are nearing life’s end.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

After a trouble-free pregnancy, her baby was declared dead on what was to be her date of birth. Following a C-section, Ash fought a fever that raged at 104 degrees and almost succumbed to the silent B-strep infection that had killed her daughter. Devastated by the experience, Ash sought solace and perspective in all the old places and found little relief. In this moving account she discusses the inner changes she faced after the stillbirth of her daughter, delves into spiritual questions that shook her soul, and examines the connection between mother and child that transcends separation and death.

• Death of a Child

• Stillbirth

Gives insightful mediation on the meaning of grief, showing how it can be the path toward a lasting love of those who have died. Describes the transition from loving in presence to loving in separation.

• General

• Organ Donors / Religious

Written by a mother who lost her 21 year old son to suicide, this book deals with the themes of suicide loss through the lens of the author's personal grief. Addressing the process of post-traumatic growth, this memoir provides the bereaved with therapy exercises and creative activities to help them come to terms with their loss.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Death of a Child / Suicide

Written from the author’s own experiences regarding the important decisions that must be made after the loss of a spouse.

• Death of a Partner

Description

• Category

• Topics

A spiritual and practical guide to healing after pregnancy loss. This book points grieving hearts to real hope, and equips family, friends, churches, counselors, and others with understanding and tools for ministering to hurting families after loss.

• Death of a Child

• Miscarriage

This book will teach readers to assess and put into perspective, their own feelings about the disease so that they can truly help those who are afflicted with it. The use of cartoons, anecdotes and personal stories will set an upbeat and positive tone.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

Griefland. It’s a place no one wants to visit—a place without borders where language is inadequate and pain is constant. It’s a place where every morning one awakens to the stark reality that a loved one will never be seen, heard—or embraced—again. This is a place that Armen Bacon and Nancy Miller know all too well, for when they met, both of them had lost a child—a son, Alex, and a daughter, Rachel.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Overdose

A collection of sermons appropriate for the Christian funeral.

• Professional

• Funeral Rites / Religious / Historical

Ages 6-13. A warm, sensitive story of how one little boy is encouraged and supported to find his own way to remember his best friend. Written in simple, honest language, and the warm, expressive watercolors tenderly express the sensitive story of children’s friendships.

• Children and Teens

• Death of a Friend

Intended for all who sense in the reality of mortality a problem of meaning and who are interested in how some of their fellow human beings have grappled with it.

• General

• Religious / Historical

This honest, sensitive and beautifully illustrated picture book is designed to help explain the concept of death to children aged 3-7. Written from a child's own words, it is based on the real-life conversations that Elke Barber had with her then three-year-old son, Alex, after the sudden death of his father. 

• Children

• Death of a Father

This picture book aims to help children aged 3+ to understand what happens to the body after someone has died.

• Children

Nine mothers who lost a child and met in a support group give comfort and direction to bereaved parents. They candidly share with other grieving parents what to expect in the first year and long beyond.

• Death of a Child

This book gives innovative application of the five love languages creates an entirely new way to touch the lives of the five million Americans who have Alzheimer’s, as well as their fifteen million caregivers. At its heart, this book is about how love gently lifts a corner of dementia’s dark curtain to cultivate an emotional connection amid memory loss.

• Alzheimer's Disease

Explores the four stages of losing a parent. Children often must endure the painful final stages of a parent’s life, the finality of their death, and their own grief while offering support for a surviving parent. Helps reader acknowledge and respect the differences in how different people process pain, explaining why all people do not feel the same after such a loss.

• General

• Death of a Parent

Shows how to respond constructively to any adolescent and to troubled adolescents in particular.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Teens

This book is intended to help you understand some of what to expect after the homicide of a family member or friend. The book is divided into sections which cover the first few days, the first few weeks, the first few months, the first year and beyond.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Homicide

Todd's wife Lisa reveals what really happened on that ill-fated flight, as well as poignant glimpses of a genuine American hero. She talks candidly about Todd's growing-up years, their marriage and last week together, and then family moments without him-the devastating day her children learned their daddy had died, how they celebrated his first birthday without him, the mix of grief and joy when she gave birth to their third child, and how she's found the confidence to go on in the face of such tragedy and loss. It's no wonder that, through this unpretentious homemaker and mother, an entire nation can find hope, inspiration and strength.

• Death of a Partner

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

Selected papers from a conference convened Oct. 1971 in Philadelphia by the Dept. of Psychiatry of the University of Pennsylvania and sponsored by the Center for Studies of Suicide Prevention of the National Institute of Mental Health.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Suicide

Illuminating the impact of loss and grief on our psychological and emotional lives, this book provides vital information to ease painful transitions and facilitate healing. The author emphasizes that dealing with the death of a loved one involves more than picking up the pieces and moving on; rather, healing is an ongoing journey on which grief is a constant companion.

• General

A deeply moving memoir written by a mom whose only child was killed suddenly in an automobile accident.

• Death of a Child

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

Developed to help readers become more intelligent and discriminating consumers of information in our media-centered culture.

• General

This book is designed to promote resiliency and healing in children that have experienced the death of a loved one. Using simple language and captivating photographs, this book guides children towards a path of understanding their emotions, as well as caring their minds, bodies, and spirits.

• Children

Dr. Benton descries grief and the feelings of guilt, rejection, isolation, and fear that may accompany it.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Historical

An anthology of reading on the subject of death.

• General

• Historical

This is the story of Ruth. Of Ann. And of all of us who wonder what we’d say if we knew we didn’t have forever. The author writes about her experience losing a friend to breast cancer in a fictional way.

• General

• Breast Cancer

When it comes to the end of a relationship, the loss of a loved one, or even a national tragedy, we are often told we need “closure.” But while some people do find closure for their pain and grief, many more feel closure does not exist and believe the notion only promises false hopes. Sociologist Nancy Berns explores these ideas and their ramifications in her timely book, Closure. This book explains how to push for closure-whether we find it helpful, engaging, or enraging-is changing our society.

• General

Provides a wealth of information on books designed to help children from ages 3 to 16 overcome the grief of loss in whatever form it takes.

• Helping Children

• All Loss

A sensitive book that offers bereaved parents the comfort of knowing how others have navigated this rutted road. Acknowledges that no family ever "recovers" from this tragedy, but rather adapts to a life irretrievably altered.

• Death of a Child

At 39, theologian Billings was diagnosed with incurable cancer. The questions were acute: Why me? Why now? Where is God in all of this? This eloquently written book shares Billing’s journey and reflections on providence, lament, and life in Christ in light of illness.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Religious

Provides guidance to fight this tragic trend, informing both the concerned layman and the professional counselor.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Suicide

Ages 4-9. Tender story of a duck (Timothy) who loves a boy. Timothy watches John get sick and die; learns about grief and goodbyes.

• Children

Ages 3-8. Deals with childhood guilt; looks at feelings when there’s a family fight, a divorce, illness, injury and death. Let’s kids know that their thoughts don’t control the world.

• Children

This book will help children see how much god loves them and how God works through people to provide comfort and hope. They are not alone in feeling afraid.

• Teens

The true story of a young widow's anguish and the paradoxical enrichment grief can bring.

• Death of a Partner

Join seven-year-old Grace on her journey through coping with the loss of her father while learning about the different ways that people grieve the loss of a loved one. In the process of learning about who her father was through the eyes of others, she learns about who she is today because of her father's personality and love.

• Children

• Death of a Father

Analyzes the behavior of leukemic children aged 3-9

• Helping Children

• Leukemia / Historical

A story of both a devastating tragedy and an exquisite triumph-and the agonizing, relentless conflicted process connecting these two oppositional pulls.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Death of a Child / Suicide

A leading expert in the field of emotions research challenges the conventional model of the 'Five Stages of Grief' offering fascinating new insights on the bereavement process and the ways in which we find positive meaning in loss.

• General

Examines the child's tie to the mother and also explains why this vital relationship is so crucial to the development of the child's personality.

• Professional

• Historical

Examines the effect of separation on the development of the child and the psychopathology that often follows separation.

• Professional

• Historical

The author analyzes the effects of a death in the family on the lives of children and adults.

• Professional

Jolene Brackey has a vision: that we will soon look beyond the challenges of Alzheimer's disease to focus more of our energies on creating moments of joy. The edition is filled with more practical advice sprinkled with hope, encouragement, new stories, and generous helpings of humor.

• Alzheimer's Disease

Ages 9-16. A realistic guide to coping with the stresses and emotions a child or young teen may face when a parent has died.

• Children and Teens

• Death of a Parent

A book to help sibilings anticipate a brother or sisters death from a terminal illness.

• Children

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

Topics as notification of death, organ donation and funeral services are discussed candidly. Three easy-to-use checklists simplify the many tasks facing survivors and provide organization and efficiency at a time when chaos is more likely to rule. Spiritual and emotional issues relating to death are ably presented.

• General

A collection of stories by young teens who have experienced the death of a sibiling

• Teens

• Death of a Sibling

Ages 4-7. Children love the illustrations in this excellent book. We learn about why some parents divorce, having two homes, telling your friends, visiting your parent, and even holidays.

• Children

• Divorce

Ages 5-8. Unlike many books on death for little ones, this one doesn't tell a story. Instead, it addresses children's fears and curiosity head-on, and in a largely secular fashion, by answering some very basic questions: "Why does someone die?" "What does dead mean?" "What comes after death?" Other questions deal with emotions, and there's a section about death customs.

• Children

Discusses how to deal with different types of grief, in such situations as death, suicide, romantic break-up, and pregnancy. Includes fictional examples and lists of crisis centers and agencies to provide help.

• Teens

These photographs were a common aspect of American culture, a part of the mourning and memorialization process.

• General

An inspiring allegory illustrating the delicate balance between life and earth.

• Children

How parents can survive when more than one child dies. The author speaks of his experiences of going back to work, marriage and Jessica, the surviving big sister who was at home.

• Death of a Child

• Death of children

Ira Byock is a leading palliative care physician and longtime public advocate for improving care through the end of life. In this book, Byock teaches us that a degree of emotional healing is always possible and that we can experience a sense of wholeness even in the wake of family strife, personal tragedy, divorce, or in the face of death.

• General

Organized into fifty-two short chapters, Bearing the Unbearable is a companion for life’s most difficult times, revealing how grief can open our hearts to connection, compassion, and the very essence of our shared humanity. Dr. Joanne Cacciatore—bereavement educator, researcher, Zen priest, and leading counselor in the field—accompanies us along the heartbreaking path of love, loss, and grief. Through moving stories of her encounters with grief over decades of supporting individuals, families, and communities—as well as her own experience with loss

• General

This book is comprised of quotations from Bearing the Unbearable, and other sources as well, plus an enormous amount of new material from Dr. Jo. Especially well-suited for the grieving mind that may struggle with concentration, just 30 seconds on any page will empower, hearten, and validate any bereaved person—helping give strength and courage to bear life’s most painful losses.

• General

The papers included in this book speak of and for the survivors of suicide, of their torment and need for psychological assistance.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Suicide

Teaches “how to listen to the dying, how to understand and accept what they wish or need to share.”

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

This book was created about fetal loss to help families have conversations with their children.

• Children

• Miscarriage

Designed for adult caregivers to read to surviving youngsters following a suicidal death. 'Wondering if you could have done something to prevent this suicide is normal. Nothing you said or did would have changed what happened.'

• Children

• Suicide

“…Insights concerning relationship patterns, validates individual differences and provides practical advice for many of the painful family problems associated with cancer."

• Before the Death

• Cancer / Historical

"This book comes to grips with adolescent suicide."

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Teen Suicide

Ages 8-13. Black Jack Jetty follows Jack as he copes with his father’s death in Afghanistan. Follow Jack’s journey through his grief, anger, anxiety, and guilt. A tip sheet for kids to help cope with a parent s death follows the story.

• Children

• Death of a Father / Military

This practical compendium is filled with frank advice for fellow survivors. Dealing with the three major survivors' issues (the question "Why?", anger over the event, and guilt) the book gives description of typical patterns in grief process and offers helpful steps to recovery. Chapters include dealing with others, handling holidays, and effects of death and tragedy on the family unit. Of special interest is a portion of one chapter devoted to grief issues of surviving children.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Suicide

Last things first tells the medical and legal story of advance directives, why it is important to document wishes for end-of-life care and how easy it is to create this simple – yet vital – record of your values and wishes for care.

• General

• End of Life Planning

Eleven children share their experiences with terminal illness, especially the ways they helped each other cope with the prospects of their own death.

• Children

• Terminally Ill Children / Historical

A reader friendly guide to helping children. Includes: supporting grieving children and teens, signs of grief in children and teens, what you can do, teachable moments, and taking care of yourself. Information that will help schools when a death in the classroom occurs.

• Children

• School Resources

A reader friendly guide to helping children. Includes: supporting grieving children and teens, signs of grief in children and teens, what you can do, teachable moments, and taking care of yourself. Information that will help parents and their grieving children.

• Children

This short, easy to read book offers simple but important advice and guidance for school teachers and staff on what to do when a child is grieving. It includes advice on explaining death to children, insights into how children may be feeling and how they may react, and ways in which they can be supported. The book also covers how bereavement can affect a child and how it can affect the whole school in the case of a death of a pupil or staff member.

• Helping Children

• School Resources

On November 3, 2020, Tim and Aileen Challies received the shocking news that their son Nick had died. Seasons of Sorrow includes a selection of Tim's reflections sharing the poignancy of early grief, the doubts and fears that plague us during loss, and the faith and joy that sustain us through sorrow.

• Death of a Child

• Sudden & Traumatic Death / Religious

Mary Beth unveils her struggle to allow God to write the story of her life, both the happy chapters and the tragic ones. And as the story unfolds, she has been forced to wrestle with some of life’s biggest questions. No matter where you find yourself in your own life story, you will treasure the way Mary Beth shows that even in the hard times, there is hope if you choose to SEE.

• Death of a Child

• Sudden & Traumatic Death / Religious

Are you looking for ways to better understand the impact of the loss – and how to help? This booklet was written specifically for surviving adults, such as family members, caregivers, and close friends. It might also be of interest to teachers, counselors, clergy, healthcare professionals, and others who work with young people and, most importantly, care about them

• Helping Children

Every culture has unique ways of coping with the devastating loss of a loved one, but in some households these important traditions have succumbed to the modern emphasis on returning to the business of life.

• General

After her son, Zachary, dies in her arms at birth, visual artist and author Alexis Marie Chute disappears into her “Year of Distraction.” It is only when Chute learns she is pregnant again that she sets out to find healing and rediscover her identity―just in time, she hopes, to welcome her next child.

• Death of a Child

This book is the story of Claypool's own journey through the darkness, written through four sermons. The first was delivered just eleven days after his eight year old daughter's diagnosis of leukemia, the second after her first major relapse nine months later, and the third weeks after her death. The final sermon - reflection on the process of grieving - was preached three years later.

• General

A book designed to help people who have experienced crushing losses survive and grow beyond the pain into the light of a new day. The author takes an in-depth look at grief, one of the most common and universal experiences of life. Clemons examines the situations that cause grief and describes the stages beyond grief. He concludes his discussion by explaining how we can help each other grieve creatively and begin to live after its wake.

• General

Aimed at the minister and seminary student.

• Professional

• Religious / Historical

When Nothing Matters Anymore defines and explains adolescent depression, reveals how common it is, describes the symptoms, and spreads the good news that depression is treatable. Personal stories, photos, and poetry from teens dealing with depression speak directly to readers' feelings, concerns, and experiences.

• Teens

Honest and straightforward, this story explores the many emotions a child who has experienced a death may experience, from anger and guilt to sadness and bewilderment. Ultimately, Missing Mommy focuses on the positive―the recognition that the child is not alone but still part of a family that loves and supports him.

• Children

• Death of a Mother