Children’s Literature and Bereavement

What I’m doing in this post is doing something that I hold very close to my heart. You may be aware that I have a couple of reading lists that I host on this blog. They cover topics that I’ve got a particular interest in or strength of knowledge or topics that I want to research further. They are lists that are constantly growing as I add to them anything I find that comes under their respective headings, titles that I’ve read or heard about or been recommended. And they’re editable by anyone, so please do feel free to add anything you think I’ve missed.

Here’s my one on gifted and talented characters in children’s literature.

Here’s my list of  titles in children’s literature that reference menstruation.

It’s now time to add a third. I’ve always had a strong interest in the healing power of books – the bibliotherapy side of literature. I’m fascinated by the way that books help us to cope with the shadowy, inevitable darknesses of life. (Here’s a heartbreaking and wondrous Storify about the healing power of YA literature, for example)

So, because of that, and because of many other reasons to personal to elaborate at this point, my third list is one on bereavement in children’s literature.

What I want this list to be is simple. I want it to cover titles that explicitly address loss. That deal with the process of grieving – of sadness. I don’t endorse these books in any way. I do not guarantee them, nor explicitly recommend them. I am not a professional counsellor in any way and that needs to be noted due to the topic of the list.

But what I do hope is that at some point, when questions are being asked that you may not know how to answer or even if you can, that one of these books may be able to help.