Picture Book Review: Grief

 

It's hard losing people and pets, but these books can help small readers learn about grief:

A young girl and her father miss her mother, so she imagines a trip they always talked about taking when it was still the three of them. In time, they can create new dreams together.

This story offers up hope alongside the sadness. They're remembering the old dreams and keeping Mami's memory alive while finding new dreams with each other. 

A young girl loves visiting her grandparents and seeing her aunt. Her aunt loves sewing; it's her love language. She gifts her niece a pair of pajama pants, but they are pink. The next week, the go to visit, but her aunt has fallen ill. She dies. Afterwards, the family is cleaning out her room, the girl finds the pink pajama pants she rejected. Now she loves them. 

This story shows the hospital, a funeral, and the family cleaning out her room. It's a lovely story, but those might be hard for some kids. The ending is sweet and heartwarming. 

Review: Day of the Dead books

 Just a few picture books for Day of the Dead:

This Little Golden Book is a great introduction to the Day of the Dead Celebration. It shares a little bit about this history of the day and what the day symbolizes. 

I love how it explains the history, the decor, and different traditions. This is a great introduction to the holiday. 

A young boy prepares for the celebration at the end of the day. There are many special moments that all tie together.

This isn't a bilingual book, but each page spread does have a sentence in Spanish

Julieta is sad; Dia de Muertos is approaching and she's not sure what the best gift for her Abuelita would be. Everything she tries doesn't work. Will she find something inside?

I loved this connection between the young girl and her grandmother. They had a special bond; I love how Julieta finds something in herself to honor her Abuelita.