Customer Reviews

When Your Grandparent Dies: A Child's Guide to Good Grief (Elf-Help Books for Kids)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I have read 4 books about dying in hopes of finding the "perfect" book to help explain death to my 4 year old. I haven't found the "perfect" book, but this one came the closest and was the most helpful.

This book is actually part of a series of "Elf-Help Books" that feature a little Elf. What I liked about this book is that I was able to get one specifically about a grandparent dying, so it best fit my situation. Also each page has a clear topic title, so we could skip pages that I felt were too much for a 4 year old to understand. There are references to God, Heaven, a funeral, and Cemetery. There are photos of the elf throughout the book helping to show these different things.

If you go to Amazon and type in "Elf Help Books" you will see many titles dealing with death of other family members (death of a parent, a general death one), self esteem problems, moving, jealousy, fear, divorce, learning to be a friend, serious illnesses, being in the hospital, and others. I would recommend this series for a variety of situations that need to be explained to preschoolers.

I also read Up in Heaven by Emma Chichester Clark (a good book, but only deals with the loss of a pet), What's Heaven? by Maria Shriver, and I Miss You: A first look at death by Pat Thomas. But I liked "When your Grandparent Dies" the most out of all of these.

I am a hospice bereavement counselor and use this book in grief sessions with children. It is written simply, and is a good resource for a wide age range.

Got to thinking that my grandchilren will not understand why I'm not available after I die. Bought this for both my children to share with the grandkids. Hope they see it as helpful as I do.

We bought this book right after our 2 3/4 year old daughter's grandpa died. He was only 54 and it was a sudden death. This book is more appropriate for a child older than our daughter with all of the words and topics that are included. Part of this book focuses on when a grandparent is old, sick, and dying. These pages we skipped because her grandpa was young, healthy, and full of life. We had to paraphrase a lot of the pages/topics to fit our situation. Each page is a different topic so you can pick and choose what things you want to read about and discuss - Everybody is Sad, Saying Good-bye, It's Okay to Cry, What Dying Means, Heaven, Crazy Feelings, It's Not Your Fault, The Scariest Feeling of All, Talking Helps, What is a Funeral, The Funeral Service, Listen and Learn, How Long Will You Be Sad, & What Your Grandparent Wants. I really enjoyed "What Dying Means" and "Heaven".

Is quite a good book to have in any home where a child may lose someone. Very helpful. Thanks A++++++

This is a great book to explain an idea that they may not understand. It makes it easy to read and adults have a hard time explaining it to kids. There is so much confusion in the death process which is not discussed.

Grandparents are important figures in children's lives, and a death during a child's early ages can spark emotional upheaval and confusion. This is such a beautiful little resource for parents and children. Ryan does a nice job intorducing this reality to kids, but in a non-threatening way. I used it successfully with my children to help us both cope with a deep loss.

My husband passed away recently. Our two grandboys were having a hard time facing the reality of grandpa being sick and there was nothing more the doctors could do.
I received this book just 3 days prior to his death. The grandkids read it along with myself. It gave excellent examples of what kind of events to remember and how things might make you feel. Great book that I highly recommend for kids of all ages.

I actually bought this book for a coworker who just lost her Mother-in-Law and whose kids were having a very difficult time coming to terms with the passing of their Grandmother. She read this book to her children and invited them to ask questions and discuss their emotions. She said that her kids were more open to discussing what happened to their Grandmother and to share their memories after she read this book.My coworker thinks this book helped her children to understand this part of life a little better.

This book was a bit more detailed than I wanted. I especially don't want young children to think being old is when you die since any adult would rate as old. This was bought for a 3.5 year old, but was held back as it was more appropriate for an older child.