Golisano Children's Hospital / Bereavement Support / Literature Resources

Literature Resources

Parent Literature Family Literature Children’s Literature

Miscarriage/Infant Loss Focused-Based Literature Grief Journals

Parent Literature

After the Darkest Hour the Sun Will Shine Again (Elizabeth Mehren)
Beyond Tears: Living After Losing a Child (Ellen Mitchell)
The Cure for Sorrow (Jan Richardson)
Facing the Ultimate Loss: Coping with the Death of a Child (Robert Marx and Susan Wengerhoff Davidson)
From Father to Father: Letters From Loss Dad to Loss Dad (Emily R. Long)
Free to Grieve: A Mother’s Memoir in Black and White (Teleah Scott-Williams)
Grieving Dads: To the Brink and Back (Kelly Farley with David DiCola)
The Grieving Garden: Living with the Death of a Child (Suzanne Redfern and Susan K. Gilbert)
Healing a Parent’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas After Your Child Dies (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
It’s Ok That You’re Not Ok (Megan Devine)
Life After the Death of My Son: What I’m Learning (Dennis Apple)
Meaningful Moments: Ritual and Reflection When A Child Dies (Rana Limbo & Kathy Kobler)
The Paradoxes of Mourning (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
Permission to Mourn (Tom Zuba)
Promise Me, Dad (Joe Biden)
Signs: The Secret Language of the Universe (Laura Lynne Jackson)
Swallowed by a Snake: The Gift of the Masculine Side of Healing (Thomas R. Golden)

Family Literature

Supporting Surviving Children

A Child’s View of Grief: A Guide for Parents, Teachers, and Counselors (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
The Grieving Child: A Parent’s Guide (Helen Fitzgerald)
Guiding Your Child Through Grief (Mary Ann Emswiler and James P. Emswiler)
Healing a Child’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas for Families, Friends and Caregivers (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
How Do We Tell the Children? A Guide for Helping Children Cope When Someone Dies (Dan Schaefer)
A Parent's Guide to Raising Grieving Children: Rebuilding Your Family after the Death of a Loved One (Phyllis R. Silverman/ Madelyn Kelly)
Talking About Death: A Dialogue Between Parents and Child (Earl A. Grollman)

Grandparents

For Bereaved Grandparents (Margaret Gerner)
Forgotten Tears: A Grandmother’s Journey Through Grief (Nina Bennett)
Healing a Grandparent’s Grieving Heart: 100 Practical Ideas After Your Grandchild Dies (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
When a Grandchild Dies: What to Do, What to Say, How to Cope (Nadine Galinsky)

Friend

When Your Friend’s Child Dies: A Guide to Being a Thoughtful and Caring Friend (Julan Grant)

Supporting Those With Special Needs

Helping People with Developmental Disabilities Mourn: Practical Rituals for Caregivers (Mark A. Markell)

Children’s Literature

Toddlers/Preschooler

A Terrible Thing Happened (Margaret Holmes)
Badger’s Parting Gifts (Susan Varley)
I Miss You (Pat Thomas)
Lifetimes: A Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children (Bryan Mellonie)
No New Baby (Marilyn Gryte)
The Fall of Freddie the Leaf: A Story for All Ages (Leo Buscaglia, Ph.D.)
The Goodbye Book (Todd Parr)
The Invisible String (Patricia Karst)
Something Very Sad Happened: A Toddler’s Guide to Understanding Death (Bonnie Zucker)
When Dinosaurs Die (Laurie Kesney Brown and Marc Brown)

School Age/Elementary

After the Funeral (Jane Loretta Winsch)
Beyond the Ridge (Paul Globe)
A Child Remembers (Enid S. Traisman)
The Empty Place (Roberta Temes)
Everett Anderson’s Goodbye (Lucille Clifton)
Gentle Willow: A Story for Children About Dying (Joyce C. Mills)
The Goodbye Boat (Mary Joslin)
Help Me Say Goodbye: Activities for Helping Kids Cope When a Special Person Dies (Janis Silverman)
Lost and Found: Remembering a Sister (Ellen Yeomans)
The Next Place (Warren Hanson)
The Purple Balloon (Christopher Raschka)
Tear Soup: A Recipe for Healing After Loss (Pat Schwiebert)
The Tenth Good Thing About Barney (Judy Voirst)
This Book is for All Kids, but Especially my Sister Libby. Libby Died. (Jack Simon)
We Were Gonna Have a Baby But We Had an Angel Instead (Pat Schweibert & Taylor Bills)
What On Earth Do You Do When Someone Dies? (Trevor Romaine)
When Someone Dies (Sharon Greelee)
When Someone Very Special Dies: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief (Marge Heegaard)
Where Do People Go When they Die? (Mindy Avra Portnoy)

Middle School/Teens/Young Adults

All That Remains: Three Stories (Bruce Brooks)
Bridge to Terabithia (Katherine Paterson)
The Brightest Star (Kathleen Maresh Hemery)
The Fault in Our Stars (John Green)
Fire in My Heart, Ice In My Veins (Enid S. Traisman)
Healing Your Grieving Heart for Teens: 100 Practical Ideas (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
The Healing Your Grieving Heart Journal for Teens (Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
Help For the Hard Times: Getting Through Loss (Earl Hipp)
Helping Teens Cope with Death (The Dougy Center for Grieving Children)
How it Feels When a Parent Dies (Jill Krementz and Alfred Knopf)
Reactions: A Workbook to help young people who are experiencing trauma and grief (Alison Salloum)
The Scar (Charlotte Moundlic and Oliver Tallec)
The Saddest Time (Norma Simon)
Straight Talk about Death for Teenagers (Earl Grollman)
Weird is Normal When Teenages Grieve (Jenny Lee Wheeler)
When A Friend Dies: A Book for Teens About Grieving and Healing (Marilyn Gootman)
When Death Walks In (Mark Scrivani)
When Someone Very Special dies: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief (Marge Heegaard)

Miscarriage/Stillbirth/Infancy

About What Was Lost (Jessica Berger Gross)
Always Within; Grieving the Loss of Your Infant (Melissa Eshleman)
An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination (Elizabeth McCracken)
Empty Cradle, Broken Heart (Deborah L. Davis)
Free to Grieve: Healing and Encouragement for Those Who Have Suffered Miscarriage and Stillbirth (Maureen Rank)
A Gift of Time: Your Pregnancy When Your Baby’s Life is Expected to be Brief (A.Kuebelbeck, D.L. Davis)
Grieving the Child I Never Knew (Kathe Wunnenberg)
Help, Comfort, & Hope: After Losing Your Baby in Pregnancy or the First Year (Hannah Lothrop)
The Invisible Pregnancy: Give Birth to Healing (Heidi Faith)
Parenthood Lost (Michael R. Berman M.D.)
Saying Goodbye Without Saying Hello (Marcy Rachel and RaeBeth McGee)
A Silent Sorrow Pregnancy Loss: Guidance & Support for You and Your Family (Ingrid Kohn & Perry-Lynn Moffitt)
Something Happened (Phyllis Childers)
Still (Stephanie Paige Cole)
Waiting with Gabriel: A Story of Cherishing a Baby’s Brief Life (Amy Kuebelkeck)

Focused-Based Literature

Cancer

Am I Still a Sister? (Alicia Sims)
Hannah’s Gift (Maria Housdan)
Phoenix Rising (Cynthia Grant)

Car Accident

The Empty Place (Roberta Temes)
Dusty Was My Friend (Andrea Fleck Clardy)

Military Loss

Healing Your Grieving Heart After a Military Death ( Bonnie Carroll and Alan D. Wolfelt, Ph.D.)
The Hero in My Pocket (Marlene Lene)

Suicide

Dying to Be Free: A Healing Guide for Families After Suicide (Beverly Cobain)
Finding Peace without All of the Pieces: After A Loved One’s Suicide (LaRita Archibald)

Murder/Violent Death

What to do When the Police Leave: A guide to the first days after traumatic loss (Bill Jenkins)
No Time for Goodbyes: Coping with sorrow, anger, and injustice after a tragic death (Janice Harris Lord)
A Grief Like No Other: Surviving the violent death of someone you love (Kathleen O’Hara)

Grief Journals

Grief Doodling: Bringing Back Your Smiles (Harriet Hodgson)
Help Me Say Goodbye: Activities for Helping Kids Cope When a Special Person Dies (Janis Silverman)
How I Feel: Grief Journal for Kids (Mia Roldan)
How to Carry What Can’t Be Fixed: A journal for grief (Megan Devine)
The Memory Book: A Grief Journal for Children and Families (Joanna Rowland)
On Coming Alive: Journaling Through Grief (Lexi Behrndt)
When Someone Very Special Dies: Children Can Learn to Cope with Grief: Drawing Out Feelings (Marge Heegaard)