Child Grief Resources
Helping Kids Navigate Grief
At Dreamshelf Press, we understand that helping a child navigate grief is one of the most challenging tasks a caregiver or educator can face. To support you in this journey, we've compiled a list of accredited resources designed to help children understand and cope with loss in a healthy and meaningful way.
Download FREE Printable Grief Worksheets for Kids Ages 3-8
Looking for engaging activities to help your child navigate their emotions? Download our FREE printable worksheets, designed specifically for kids ages 3-8. These fun and interactive resources offer creative ways to explore feelings, build emotional resilience, and support your child's journey through grief and beyond.
Trusted Grief Resources for Kids
Below, you'll find a selection of highly regarded resources from experts in child psychology, bereavement, and education. These links provide valuable information, activities, and support specifically tailored to children's unique needs during the grieving process.
1. National Alliance for Grieving Children
A comprehensive resource that offers support for children, teens, and families dealing with grief. Includes directories for local support centers and educational materials for caregivers. Visit NACG Resources
2. Dougy Center: The National Center for Grieving Children & Families
The Dougy Center provides a wealth of resources, including articles, activities, and tips for helping children navigate grief. They also offer peer support groups across the country. Visit Dougy Center
3. Sesame Street in Communities: Grief
Sesame Street offers a child-friendly approach to discussing grief and loss. Their resources include videos, activities, and storybooks featuring beloved characters to help explain difficult concepts to young children. Visit Sesame Street Grief Page
4. The Moyer Foundation: Eluna
Eluna supports children affected by grief and addiction. Their resources include Camp Erin, the largest nationwide network of bereavement camps for children and teens. Visit Eluna
5. Grief Reach - The New York Life Foundation
Grief Reach offers grants to local organizations supporting grieving children and provides resources for helping young people process loss and trauma. Visit New York Life Foundation: Grief Reach
Children's Picture Books About Grief & Loss
The Invisible String - By Patrice Karst
Parents, educators, therapists, and social workers alike have declared The Invisible String the perfect tool for coping with all kinds of separation anxiety, loss, and grief. It's also been joyfully embraced as a year-round celebration of love--gifted at births, graduations, weddings, Valentine's Day, and beyond. In this relatable and reassuring contemporary classic, a mother tells her two children that they're all connected by an invisible string.
What Happened To Zoey? A Book About Grief for Kids - By Auntie Angie
Kids ask a lot of hard questions that sometimes parents and caregivers struggle to find the right words to answer. What Happened To Zoey? is a powerful tool that can help them broach the complex topic of death and grief with young children - through a rhyming tale of pet loss. It provides a safe space for open discussions, allowing children to express their emotions and find comfort in knowing that it is normal to grieve.
Kids ask a lot of hard questions that sometimes parents and caregivers struggle to find the right words to answer.
Through its gentle storytelling and beautifully illustrated pages, this book encourages resilience, empathy, and the importance of cherishing memories. What Happened To Zoey?offers a timeless message of hope, healing, and the enduring power of love, making it an essential resource for families navigating the difficult grief journey together.
The Invisible Leash - By Patrice Karst
From the author of the million-copy-bestselling picture book phenomenon The Invisible String comes a moving companion title about coping with grief when a pet dies.
Accompanied by tender, uplifting art by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, bestselling author Patrice Karst's gentle story The Invisible Leash uses the same bonding technique from her classic book The Invisible String to help readers through the experience of the loss of a beloved animal.
The ABCs of Grief - By Jessica Correnti, MS, CCLS
Grief is messy, confusing, and overwhelming for all ages—but especially young children who are trying to make sense of the big changes and losses happening around them.
The ABCs of Grief is the perfect book for children facing grief related to: death, moving, illness, traumatic medical experiences, new diagnoses, natural and manmade disasters, big changes with school or other activities, feeling ‘different’ from others, abuse, immigration, foster care, absent or distant caregivers, and more.
Everywhere, Still - By M.H. Clark
Everywhere, Still is a book about missing someone. It's a book about loss and grief--whether that loss is permanent or temporary. And it's a reminder that there is always a way to stay close with the people who are biggest in our hearts, no matter how far across space and time they may be.
Read this meaningful book to a child when a grandparent or loved one has passed, a parent is living or serving abroad, a dear friend has moved away, or a pet is very much missed. With touching illustrations, each page is a way to honor every emotion a child is experiencing. Features a hardcover and foil-stamped dust jacket.
The Memory Box - By Joanna Rowland
Recommended and adopted by parenting blogs, bereavement support groups, hospice centers, social service agencies, military library services, church groups, and educators, The Memory Box offers a very simple approach to overcoming loss, separation, and disappointment while also giving support and encouragement that children easily understand. A perfect companion to this book is The Memory Book: A Grief Journal for Children and Families that helps children record stories, memories, and feelings as an honoring keepsake to be cherished for years to come.
Why These Resources Matter
Navigating the complexities of grief can be daunting for both children and the adults who care for them. The resources listed here are designed to provide guidance, support, and comfort during these difficult times. At Dreamshelf Press, we believe in the power of education and community in helping children heal and grow after a loss.