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Home › Articles › Pets › Losing a Pet

Losing a Pet

Tips for Soothing Kids' Grief

By Jennifer Lacey

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Reading books together with your children can be extremely beneficial on the road of healing after the loss of a pet. This can also provide an important opportunity for your child to express his feelings. There are several age-appropriate literary selections to choose from, including the following:

  • When Dinosaurs Die (Little Brown & Co., 1998) by Laurie Krasny and Marc Brown (the creator of the popular children's literary character, Arthur)
  • Cat Heaven (Blue Sky Press, 1997) byCynthia Rylant
  • Dog Heaven (Scholastic, 1995) by Cynthia Rylant
  • Goodbye, Mousie (Aladdin, 2004) by Robie H. Harris
  • When a Pet Dies (Puffin, 1998) by Fred Rogers
  • Up in Heaven (Doubleday Books, 2004) by Emma Chichester Clark

The importance of giving young children permission to discuss death and share their grief and providing clear, simple facts about the loss of the family pet that won't confuse a child are key.

"Observe and listen very carefully to your child's reactions, and then gear your discussions to the questions and concerns that the child has," Newman and Shellmer say. "Young children will respond best to parental talk that is simple, kind and at the child's level. Some children will find it helpful to learn information about the concept of death, while others will need reassurance that can be expressed through parental warmth."

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