Books for a bereaved todder?

[neolara]

Can anyone help, please? The husband of one of my friend's died unexpectedly last night. They have a daughter who is nearly two. I wanted to do something for them that was practical and helpful and I thought I might try to get hold of a simple book, appropriate for a toddler, that my friend could use to help explain the concept of death. Does anyone have any ideas? Many thanks.

[auntyquated]

this is the only one i can think of but it may be a bit too old have you tried looking at one of the bereavenent sites, they may have ideas.

[auntyquated]

amazon also list these---

Water Bugs & Dragonflies: Explaining Death to Young Children (Looking Up) by Doris Stickney
Sad Isn't Bad: A Good-Grief Guidebook for Kids Dealing with Loss (Elf-Help Books for Kids) by Michaelene Mundy
Muddles, Puddles and Sunshine: Your Activity Book to Help When Someone Has Died by Winston's Wish
Gentle Willow: A Story for Children About Dying by Joyce C. Mills
Badger's Parting Gifts by Susan Varley
I Miss You: First Look at Death (First Look at Books (Paperback)) by Pat Thomas

[JanH]

This is I Miss You from amazon. If you follow the different links they take you to other suggestions.

Helping Children Cope for adults might help too.

Very sorry for your friend's family, and you, neolara

[popsycal]

we got a lovely one for ds1 whn his great grandad died...
will find out the title for you

[Tommy]

Winston's Wish - have lots of helpful things.

So sorry to hear this bad news

[popsycal]

it was badger's parting gifts

[manitz]

cruse gives very good advice on books to read, give them a call. Really really helpful imo

[meowmix]

There's a Mog book that deals with death and is very good I think. Cannot remember the title tho.

[marthamoo]

It's Goodbye Mog.

[meowmix]

thats it! thanks Marthamoo. You;d think I'd remember as have read it about 10 billion times.

[WellKnownMemorablePeachyClair]

I'd recommend the Mog one too. Also there's a Thomas The Tank Engine book, more widely about discussing emotions- equally relevant, as it is a skill 2 year olds lack at this soet of time. It is available from the national autistic society website, but may also be on amazon.

[JellyNump]

Oh no how sad! Sorry I don't know of any books, what a terrible time for your friend and the dd! I'm so sorry

[YeahBut]

No Matter What by Debi Gliori is very good for this age group. It talks about love lasting "no matter what" and how love goes on long after death. We used it a lot with our dds when a close family friend died. They were 4 and 2 at the time. It's such a lovely book with a positive message that they actually still enjoy hearing it from time to time. The last line always makes me well up - "Because love, like starlight, never dies."

[neolara]

Thank you everyone for your suggestions - they've been really helpful. I've ordered a few of your ideas from Amazon and hopefully they'll arrive in the next day or so.