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Children books and short stories about death
I need to read some fiction children books about death (for research) -- any age group preferably for young children.
Stories both realistic and fantasy/fantastical that doesn't gloss over the suffering and pain children can experience, possibly with dark overtones.
Stories featuring Death as a character would be great too.
Thanks!
I don’t have short stories to offer, but here are some off the better/more popular books I know about from teaching. Hopefully some of them fit what you’re looking for!
Markus Zusak’s The Book Thief is narrated by Death, who is portrayed as wearied and fatigued from having to work so hard during World War II.
Katherine Paterson’s Bridge to Terabithia is about two children who create a fantasy world together, one of whom dies unexpectedly.
Patrick Ness’s A Monster Calls is about a child dealing with his mother’s terminal cancer diagnosis. This one is noteworthy as it is co-authored by Siobhan Dowd, who got the idea for the story from her own experience with terminal cancer. Dowd’s editor had Ness write the story based on Dowd’s story planning after she passed.
Jason Reynolds’s Long Way Down takes place over the course of a single elevator ride as the main character considers whether or not to get revenge on the person who killed his brother.
Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give is about a girl who witnesses the killing of her best friend by police.
Dan Gemeinhart’s The Remarkable Journey of Coyote Sunrise is about a girl and her father living out of a schoolbus and traveling the United States as she and her father cope with the deaths of her mother and sisters.
S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders follows a loose gang of boys and deals with death in several forms. The main brothers lost their parents in a car accident; another character kills someone in self-defense; and several other characters die over the course of the story. This one might be particularly noteworthy for your study, as not only is it a touchstone American novel (it is VERY widely read here), but the author also wrote it when she was 16 and still in high school herself.
Thanks!
I see. Do you know anything for young children? Like picture books etc?
Ah, I see your edit now. Looks like I misunderstood the assignment. I’m not familiar with stuff for that age level. Sorry!
First thing that came to my mind was the Ezra Jack Keats award winner from a few years ago, The Funeral by Matt James. It's pretty good, and I like his illustration.
Wolf Erlbruch's amazing picture book Duck, Death and the Tulip is a personal favourite of mine. You can see/read it here although I recommend turning off the audio and just reading.
There's a Hair in my Dirt by Gary Larson examines what happens to people after death.
Why? by Nikolai Popov examines war through kid friendly illustrations.