When Your Grandparent Dies: A Child's Guide to Good Grief

by victoria-ryan-r-w-alley, R W Alley (Illustrator)

Losing a grandparent is often a child's first experience with grief. The ordeal can be as bewildering as it is painful. With ideas for action and questions for discussions, the creative guide will help you help your grieving child to create comforting memories and find closure.

Genres: Death, Nonfiction, Childrens, Grief

32 pages, Paperback

First published May 4, 2002

Reviews

[Ariya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised to find this particular book on my nephew's shelves. Clearly he wouldn't understand a single word of it (with one and a half year, he's a tiny wee boy.) But what matters is how her mother raises concern enough for one day to teach her son about death. Good parenting though.

[Abby Peskin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This definitely wouldn't be the first book I would recommend to a bereaved child/family. For one thing, a general problem with these Elf books is that they have too many words on each page. Young children (i.e., children who read picture books) have a hard time reading or listening to that many words before the page turns. Second, this book makes ample reference to religious beliefs about death. That's fine if you're buying it for your child, but for teachers or other adults to use, it raises concerns, because not all children/families hold thes same views. Also for young children, talk about a spirit or soul still being "alive" is concerning, as young children have difficulty in the first place accepting that death is permanent.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

A look at how to help and comfort a loved one with the loss of a grandparent. The focus here is a step by step guide of the process of the many ways to deal with the grief before, during and after the loss.

[Becky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear, concise and kind words for children who just lost a grandparent. (Doesn't hurt the parents to read this, either.)