Grief Lending Library

Guides readers through the practical and spiritual lessons we need to learn so that we can live life to its fullest in every moment.

• General

As a 20 year old college student, Malinda found herself pregnant and trying to figure out what to do next. Life became more difficult after learning her daughter had a severe form of Spina Bifida and the doctors were almost certain she would not make it through the end of the pregnancy. From death and despair to strength and recovery, this is a story of Malinda navigating through the greatest loss of her life.

• Death of a Child

• Terminally Ill Baby

After a trouble-free pregnancy, her baby was declared dead on what was to be her date of birth. Following a C-section, Ash fought a fever that raged at 104 degrees and almost succumbed to the silent B-strep infection that had killed her daughter. Devastated by the experience, Ash sought solace and perspective in all the old places and found little relief. In this moving account she discusses the inner changes she faced after the stillbirth of her daughter, delves into spiritual questions that shook her soul, and examines the connection between mother and child that transcends separation and death.

• Death of a Child

• Stillbirth

Ages 5-8. Explains life and death “in a sensitive, caring, beautiful way.”

• Children

Written from the author’s own experiences regarding the important decisions that must be made after the loss of a spouse.

• Death of a Partner

Ages 5-10. Megan hid under the lilac bush under Grandmother's bedroom window. Grandma knew she was there. She heard the grown-ups talking about Grandma being ill. After grandma dies, Megan watches the doves build a new nest and gathers lilacs to bring to the funeral.

• Children

• Death of a Grandmother

From Dante and Shakespeare to Emily Bronte, Raymond Carver, and Robert Graves, these sensitively chosen literary and biblical selections eloquently reflect the many and varied emotions which grief evokes.

• General

This book reaches into the human heart, encouraging the reader to approach painful, inner darkness as a help for rather than a hindrance to personal growth.

• General

• Religious

This balanced resource empowers mourners and grief counselors to turn grief into an experience to be learned from. Defining the varieties of heartache and its consequences, this effective guide explores how to inventory, understand, embrace, and reconcile one's accumulated sorrow through a five-phase "catch-up" mourning process.

• General

"It is my hope that this book will help you to manage wisely the emotions of your grief and will challenge you to confront creatively the death of your beloved."

• General

• Historical

Ways to handle the stages of grief, living alone, restructuring families, exploring children's reactions and rebuilding one's life after the death of someone loved.

• General

The subject of children and death made comprehensible to parents, relatives, doctors, nurses, social workers, and everyone else concerned.

• Helping Children

Will help guide and support the family and friends of seriously ill patients.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Historical

For survivors of the sudden loss of a loved one. Includes: suicide, homicide, accident, heart attack and stroke.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

A review of current understandings on the process of grief and an overview of the ways that grief may affect individuals at work, at school, and at worship, and how we can better create humane environments for bereaved individuals.

• Professional

This book is filled with excellent chapters that bring us up to date with the most current information on both pre-death and post-death interventions.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

Discusses various issues that children and adolescents face before, during, and after the death of a loved one. Also touches on the dying child. Topics that are discussed include developmental perspectives, children’s hospice care, sibling loss, loss of a parent, loss of a friend, and loss experienced by military children.

• Helping Children & Teens

A compilation of writings each dealing with how we can better help children and adolescents cope with grief and loss, including pieces written by grieving children themselves.

• Helping Children & Teens

A collection of articles pertaining to large-scale disasters, grief, community support, etc.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Professional

Written and edited by some of the nation’s leading authorities on ethics and end-of-life care, this book explores a range of issues – including pediatric hospice, historical, religious, spiritual and cultural perspectives of the end of life, hospice in nursing homes, surrogate decision making, physician assisted suicide, organ donation and our society’s legal tenants of end-of-life-care.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Professional

A valuable tool for those facing the most difficult time in their lives. Prompts us all to lend a helping hand and a sympathetic ear to an older person who is suffering after a painful loss.

• General

• Older Adults

This book includes perspectives from clinicians who have experienced personal trauma, such as death by suicide, supporting a community after a tragedy, and working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Chapters include: Supporting those bereaved by Drug Overdose and Suicide Deaths, Treating traumatic loss after Violent Death, and Trauma and grief in children and adolescents.

• Professional

• Trauma

A look at the many variables which affect an individual's grief. Variables such as culture, spirituality, class, gender and age can offer meanings by which we view death and understand loss and grief.

• General

Describes and analyzes the experience of "chronic" or persistent pain, perhaps the most mysterious of all forms of this perennial human problem.

• General

• Pain / Historical

The author is trying to say that dying need not be fearful or painful, either socially or psychologically.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Historical

For the very young; text and photographs present the concept of death, the importance of grief, and the customs of mourning.

• Children

• Historical

Leads you through the process of coping with the loss of a parent-from understanding your immediate reactions to anticipating and recognizing the different stages of grief that follow. This guide also helps you nurture the relationship with a surviving parent.

• General

• Death of a Parent

A mothers personal journey in learning how to navigate through her new 'state of being' after her son is killed overseas.

• Death of a Child

Through discussions of various theories of grief, narratives of the bereaved obtained in interviews with 22 men and women, case study analysis, and chapter summaries, this text integrates the literature about and the bereavement experiences of partners in varying types of relationships.

• Death of a Partner

Theresa Jackson's father died in 2007 and she has since put together useful clinical and healing resources for others in the same position, to help them recover. With an Masters degree in clinical research, Theresa has combined the latest theories and practices on loss, with effective meditations and exercises so that you can honor and remember your lost parent, all the while processing your grief in a healthy way. Sharing hers and others’ personal journeys of coming to terms with the loss of a parent, she hopes to help more bereaved adult children on their healing journeys.

• General

• Death of a Parent

"A thoughtful and moving framework for understanding the impact that early loss has on every aspect of adult growth and development."

• General

• Death of a Parent

Donna Ashworth's poetry reminds us that love and grief are intertwined, and life's true treasure lies in those we hold most dear.

• General

“Grandma said we lost Paige. My parents said she died.” A young girl wonders what her family will be like without Paige. She also wonders if she is still a sister. In the end she discovers that Paige will always be her sister and will always be a part of her family.

• Childern

• Death of a Sibling

Lost Boy is really a story about being found. Greg opens a window on his life and shares about his uncertainty and disappointments, his healing and growth. He remembers the beginnings of a ministry that has touched millions of people and relives the ups, downs, sudden drops and blind corners – and he invites you along for the ride!

• General

• Religious

Through this book, the author shares the deep strength and eternal grace she has seen through the dementia experience with her mother. This book will give readers a gift of hope.

• Alzheimer's Disease

This is a story of love, of life, and of death, which affirms that love is life even if it seems to hold death. It is a story told mostly with poetry--the story of the lights and shadows of one man's life--a journey of sorrow and growth. It was written in great anguish of spirit, out of deep personal need. This is also a story of love, happiness, and faith.

• Death of a Partner

For adults who know children with major hurts, this book provides a model for support and comfort. It also gives helpful advice about helping kids experiencing difficult situations such as death, divorce, abuse, etc.

• Helping Children

Goodman challenges us to open ourselves to a different set of stages that she labels numbness, unrelenting pain, searching, and reinventing. She writes with comforting openness about pretending that she was progressing through the standard stages, was "getting over" the death of her son, and was searching for a more clearly defined faith.

• Death of a Child

Ages 4 and up. I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be. This book is about unconditional love and growing older. In the end, the grown son holds his dying mother and sings the song to her.

• Children

This beautifully-illustrated storybook is designed as a tool to be read with children aged 6+ who have experienced the loss of a loved one by suicide. Suicide always causes shock, not just for the family members but for everyone around them, and children also have to deal with these feelings. The book approaches the subject sensitively and includes a guide for parents and professionals.

• Children

• Suicide

…a new philosophy of living whole when old.

• General

• Historical

When ten-year-old Maryanne dies, six-year old Mark-O and the rest of the family become a little wiser about death.

• Children

• Historical

The author's personal account of his battle with cancer.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Historical

Based on the deaths of both her children as well as her professional experiences as a grief counselor, Meg Woodson offers compassionate, practical advice to see you through these darkest, loneliest days.

• General

• Death of a Child

When journalist Beth M. Howard's young husband dies suddenly, she packs up the RV he left behind and hits the American highways. Making Piece powerfully shows how one courageous woman triumphs over tragedy. This beautifully written memoir is, ultimately, about hope. It's about the journey of healing and recovery, of facing fears, finding meaning in life again, and moving forward with purpose and, eventually, joy.

• Death of a Partner

Techniques to help achieve a more fulfilling life when one is or has become single. From a Christian perspective.

• General

• Single Life / Religious

When his daughter, Amy, collapses and dies from an asymptomatic heart condition, Rosenblatt and his wife leave their home on Long Island to move in with their son-in-law and their three young grandchildren. He peels back the layers on this most personal of losses to create a testament to familial love.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Death of a Child

Shows you how to find your song when one of your children dies. Mama searches all over for her old song, but learns that she must now sing a new song. Excellent for storytelling.

• Death of a Child

Ages 8-11. A compassionate yet straightforward story to assist young children and their caregivers as they deal with an impending death of a mother. The bright, childlike artwork and simple, straightforward language offer readers a hopeful message. The book does not specify what is wrong with the mother, so it could apply to a number of situations or illnesses.

• Children

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

A compassionate yet objective analysis of man's psychological war against himself, and his need for self-respect and self-understanding.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Suicide / Historical

Two books in one. One half is for men who are grieving, with 12 helpful suggestions, each a chapter by itself. The other half is for those who want to understand and help men who are grieving, also in twelve short, helpful chapters.

• General

• Men and Grief / Helping a Friend

The author explores how we express grief and how it can be creatively managed. He offers ways of turning grief into a positive, creative, growth experience.

• General

• Historical

For those going through a divorce, this book offers the companionship of real people who have walked this lonesome road and survived, plus the knowledge and assurance that the reader can do it too.

• General

• Divorce

Through these pages, widowed people of all ages share their pain, their anger, their despair. Even more importantly, they share the discoveries and the insights that have enabled them to heal and build new lives for themselves.

• Death of a Partner

'How could Grandpa die when he promised to take me fishing?' A young child shares his feelings after Grandpa dies. He talks about all the things he will miss doing with Grandpa. The child decides to make a memory box out of Grandpa's old tackle box. He fills it with special items and all the memories of his Grandpa.

• Children

• Death of a Grandparent

From the perspective of a young child, Joanna Rowland artfully describes what it is like to remember and grieve a loved one who has died. The child in the story creates a memory box to keep mementos and written memories of the loved one, to help in the grieving process.

• Children

This book is a good resource for grieving men, as well as the professionals who help them. The author addresses a wide variety topics related to men and grief and the book is divided into three major sections: 1) Grief Responses and Characteristics, 2) The Special Challenges of Specific Losses, and 3) Working Through Your Grief.

• General

• Men and Grief / Professional

The author uses her own experience of the suicide of her son to help others through the unique grieving process of a suicide survivor.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Death of a Child / Suicide

For persons experiencing fetal death. Deals with feelings, anger, guilt, questions, withdrawal, reaching out, dads, couples, relationships, statements that hurt, and memorializing the baby.

• Death of a Child

• Miscarriage

A good look into the possible causes, medical interventions and physical reactions to miscarriage. Goes into detail about feelings with the main message of “Be kind to yourself.”

• Death of a Child

• Miscarriage

Honest and straightforward, this story explores the many emotions a child who has experienced a death may experience, from anger and guilt to sadness and bewilderment. Ultimately, Missing Mommy focuses on the positive―the recognition that the child is not alone but still part of a family that loves and supports him.

• Children

• Death of a Mother

A fresh and irreverent examination into navigating grief and resilience in the age of social media, offering comfort and community for coping with the mess of loss through candid original essays from a variety of voices.

• General

Ages 4 and up. When the new baby they've been expecting isn't strong enough to be born, Molly and her family find different ways to express their feelings and comfort each other.

• Children

• Miscarriage

Molly talks about the feelings that she has been having since the death of her mother. Includes information for caregivers.

• Children

• Death of a Mother

For children ages 4 and up. Love, understanding and hope for the child whose parents are divorcing.

• Children

• Divorce

A book of love and comfort for mothers who have experienced the deep sorrow of losing a child. Each page is like opening a gift…bright, beautiful, joyful illustrations and gentle, poignant words describe heaven from a child’s eyes.

• Death of a Child

A story about a woman’s journey battling ovarian cancer. This biography speaks about the strong connections made with others and the weekly emails she sent to her friends filled with encouraging words of hope and strength from scripture.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Cancer/Religious

Poems in remembrance of the author’s recently deceased beloved, whose presence and absence are recalled in somber lyrical rhythms and with an extraordinary range of expressions of love and sadness.

• General

The moon is always round, even when we can't always see the whole moon. Through this illustration, children understand that God is always good, even in difficult times when we can't always see all of his goodness. Help your kids find answers to hard questions about God and suffering.

• Children

• Religious

“…a sociological view of the traditionally psychological domain of suicide."

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Professional / Suicide

Caring for yourself while you grieve. Deals with the physical aspects of grief – that one CAN do something about it.

• General

A penetrating lesson on how to face the final test in life. The author guides the reader through the five stages of grief and new levels of awareness.

• General

• Historical

Libby loves her Grandma Liza more than anybody - but suddenly Grandma Liza is ill. Libby is not allowed to see her, but in a panic she defies all and searches for Grandma Liza.

• Children

• Historical

The day a young boy's mother dies, an invisible dragon swoops in and stays with him, weighing him down day and night until, at last, their relationship changes.

• Children

• Death of a Mother

Gail Sezna tells us of the tragic deaths of two of her three sons and the subsequent painful divorce by her husband of 25 years. Her youngest son Teddy died in a tragic boating accident and her oldest Deeg was killed 9/11/2001 in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Four months later her husband filed for divorce. Gail describes with courage and candor her struggle to pick up the pieces and move forward from overwhelming grief towards hope and healing.

• Death of a Child

• Divorce

Ages 6-12. When Kristine learns her mother is dying, she turns to God for help. Through her 17 conversations with God, she begins to understand her feelings and learns that it’s all right to feel fear, anger, and sadness. God understands her grief and supports her through it. Includes a discussion to help parents and children talk about death, grieving and God’s love.

• Children

• Religious / Death of a Mother

A book to help sibilings anticipate a brother or sisters death from a terminal illness.

• Children

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

A story of both a devastating tragedy and an exquisite triumph-and the agonizing, relentless conflicted process connecting these two oppositional pulls.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Death of a Child / Suicide

Draws on a personal tragedy of the author and 12 other bereaved families who have suffered the loss of a teen child. The book addresses topics such as normal grief response, the stages of grief, dealing with the holidays, sibling survivors, on-line grief resources and remembrance tokens and rituals.

• Death of a Child

• Death of a Teen Child

An inspiring memoir of life, love, loss, and new beginnings by the widower of bestselling children’s author and filmmaker Amy Krouse Rosenthal, whose last of act of love before her death was setting the stage for her husband’s life without her.

• Death of a Partner

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

For those who have experienced miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a child within the first year, this gentle resource offers: stories of hope and wisdom; practical advice and guidance, based on the experiences of many; and comfort and ways to honor and remember. Naming the Child creates a community of love and support for bereaving parents and siblings, written with a light touch and sensitive spirit.

• Death of a Child

• Miscarriage / Stillbirth / Infant Death

A book created to help people share more deeply with those who are sick or dying.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

Using thoughtful self-assessments and examples, this book persuades readers that grief must be reprocessed at every stage of life. First, it invites readers to look backward, examining their reactions and coping strategies at the time of their parent’s death. Moving into the present, it asks, what meaning do you make of your parent’s death as an adult?

• General

• Death of a Parent

This book brings together diverse fields of study and offer a practical as well as multifaceted theoretical approach to how children cope with death. Using stories of children’s own experiences supported by data from a large research study, Silverman explains the wide range of effects of loss upon children, the challenges they face as they grieve, and ways of supporting them as they change and grow in the bereavement process.

• Helping Children & Teens

Effective treatment of the dying person and his or her family, educating the child for death and our striving for self-esteem and power, impact of the idea of death on the law, and the role of grief in mental health.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Historical

Readily adaptable message to both children and adults about “life after life”. Uniquely illustrated.

• Children

• After Life

A young boy from California, Nicholas Green, was killed by highway robbers while vacationing in Italy with his family. His parents agreed to donate his organs, which went to seven Italians waiting for transplants. This story has changed lives around the world.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Homicide / Death of a Child / Organ Donation

Coping with sorrow, anger and injustice after a tragic death. An invaluable handbook for those who grieve for someone killed.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Homicide

Brings suicide survival from the darkness into light, speaking frankly about the overwhelming feelings of confusion, guilt, shame, anger, and loneliness that are shared by all survivors. Fine draws on her own experience and on conversations with many other survivors--as well as on the knowledge of counselors and mental health professionals. She offers a strong helping hand and invaluable guidance to the vast numbers of family and friends who are left behind by the more than thirty thousand people who commit suicide each year, struggling to make sense of an act that seems to them senseless, and to pick up the pieces of their own shattered lives.

• Sudden & Traumatic Death

• Suicide

Explores the four stages of losing a parent. Children often must endure the painful final stages of a parent’s life, the finality of their death, and their own grief while offering support for a surviving parent. Helps reader acknowledge and respect the differences in how different people process pain, explaining why all people do not feel the same after such a loss.

• General

• Death of a Parent

A message of consolation and solace from the author’s book A Guide to Confident Living.

• General

• Historical

PARENT COUNCIL REVIEW® 'A young child struggles with his grief over the death of his fish. He is especially upset when others comment 'it was only a fish.' Then to add to his distress, his father flushes Puffer down the toilet. A wise aunt suggests a memorial service, and the story ends with a healing eulogy. A wonderful story for young children grieving over the death of a beloved pet.'

• Children

• Death of a Pet

Charmingly illustrated, this heart-warming story for children aged 3+ reflects some of the feelings and experiences that a child whose parent or caregiver has depression may face. When it comes to periods of low mood in a parent or caregiver, children can often feel that they are to blame, or even that the parent doesn't love them anymore. The story provides reassurance by explaining what depression is and how it is possible to find help.

• Children

• Depression

Explores the effect of infertility on the couple’s marriage, on their relationships with their relatives and friends, and on their struggle to make sense out of their experience.

• General

• Infertility

Describes the difficulties parents with dying children must face; offers loving and practical help in handling these crises.

• Helping Children

• Children Dying

Reveals the beneficial changes that can occur of the dying person is not isolated and avoided, but instead invited to share his experiences with someone who can listen.

• Anticipatory / Before the Death

• Historical

Just as On Death and Dying taught us the five stages of death, Dr. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross and David Kessler applies these stages to the grieving process and weaves together theory, inspiration, and practical advice, including sections on sadness, hauntings, dreams, isolation, and healing.

• General

This collection of quotations and reflections create a companion to grief.

• General

• Death of a Father

Ages 6-10. Changes such as divorce, abuse, or the death of a loved one can cause children to run away or hide from the problem. This book is created especially to help teach children to see running away for what it truly is: a dangerous means of avoiding problems.

• Children

• All Loss

A delightful picture book written for children with cancer. The character, after learning he has cancer, would rather go home. But in the meantime he discovers the playroom and makes new friends.

• Children

• Cancer