More Picture Books on Death: 5 Recommendations

(Sorry to all of you who read this post earlier!  It wasn’t supposed to be posted until this afternoon…but I accidentally published it last night before it was finished.  And due to VBS and kids’ swimming lessons, etc., I’ve only just now been able to fix it.  Sorry!)

A few weeks ago, I did a post analyzing picture books for kids on the subject of death: Picture Books on Death (You’ll Never See).  Since then, I’ve been on the lookout for good books on the topic, and I’ve found several I’d like to pass along today.

1. Bergren, Lisa T. and Laura J. Bryant.  God Gave Us Heaven.  Waterbrook Multnomah, 2008. 40 pgs.  Ages 3 and up.  Lisa Bergren has quite a repertoire of kids’ books, and I have only barley skimmed the surface.  Can’t speak to her work as a whole yet.  BUT, this book was the best book I found for very young children.  The illustrations are really what make it–cute, cuddly polar bears take the place of humans in this world, and the soft colors and wide-eyed babies make you really want to snuggle up with them.  Plus, because they are bears, this book works just as well for boys, girls, and any culture.   Basically, a baby polar bear asks his father questions about heaven, and he answers them in terms that the baby polar bear–and your babies–will be able to relate to. I’m not all that crazy with the metaphor for Jesus (I seem to remember that he was portrayed as a bridge to heaven) but I didn’t find any factual errors or metaphors that would be demeaning.  This is a cute book for kids as young as 1 or 2 to talk about death and heaven–perfect for parents to use as a jumping off point in discussing their own family’s loss.
2. Stiegemeyer, Julie.  When Someone Dies: Find Comfort in Jesus.  Concordia Publishing House, 2010.  32pgs.  Ages 4 and up.  Out of all the books I liked on this topic, this is the one I actually bought.  First, the text is very spare.  The first page sets the stage, but then after that, the book gives us one sentence or even one word comments about what it’s like to lose a loved one and how we can deal with it.  Complementing this very sparse text are quotes from actual kids who have lost loved ones.  They bring up various real-life challenges of grief, and they help kids apply their loss in simple but practical ways.  For instance, one of my daughters was very surprised to find that some children would be angry when they lose a loved one, whereas my other daughter said she had often felt angry that her grandmother had died.  That sort of prompting was really helpful for my girls.  In addition to that, the pages include paraphrasing of Psalm 23, and as the title of the book says, these paraphrases along with the slightly hokey illustrations do in fact help kids (and adults!) find comfort in Jesus.
3. Libby, Larry.  Someday Heaven.  Zonderkids, 2001.  40 pgs.  Ages 4 and up.  This book is set up in an objective question and answer format.  Some of them are more suited to older children, and some will seem a little further afield than the most pressing questions a child who is dealing with the death of a loved one.  (One of the questions is “How long does it take to get to heaven?”  Not a bad question, but maybe not the first question on a kids’ mind when a loved one dies, in my opinion.)  But that actually makes this book a good choice for families who simply want to build in good thinking about heaven in their children, and who may not be experiencing a loss of their own.  And although it’s not so cute and cuddly, this book builds in far more Scriptural stories and parables to than either of my previous recommendations.  A solid book with lots of meat, and one that will help a lot of kids in a lot of different situations, including kids who are facing their own death instead of a loved one’s.  It’s my favorite thorough resource for younger children.
4. Alcorn, Randy. Tell Me About Heaven.  Crossway, 2007.  64 pgs.  Ages 8 and up.  This book is very similar to Someday Heaven, but it’s written for older kids.  It also includes a fictional boy and his grandfather who help convey all that information in a more conversational form.  Very solid choice for kids 8 and up.
   

My last and 5th recommendation?  If you’re considering a book on heaven and death for kids, please don’t purchase anything until you read Janie’s review of Heaven is For Real.  It’s a tempting purchase, since it’s written in the voice of a young child and based on a real event.  However, there are some significant drawbacks, and I really encourage you to consider these other choices instead.

I am going to continue looking for books along this line–I found a great book for kids dealing with grandparents or friends with alzheimers’.  I’m also very interested in books that could be helpful for kids dealing with debilitating illness that might not be fatal.  Per autism, Janie reviewed several books on that topic recently, which you can read about here and here.  Please let me know if you guys have special needs that you need help with–I’d be happy to do some research for you.  My own child was in and out of Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital at this time last year dealing with severe food allergies, so I’m pretty attuned to the suffering the whole family does when one child is sick.  Would love to help out if I could!