Lifetimes: The Beautiful Way to Explain Death to Children

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This book talks about death in all living things in a matter of fact manner and helped us have deeper conversations too. Lifetimes was written by my father to try and explain death and dying to young children in a clear, simple, non-sectarian way that they could understand and relate to. He would ask for the book when he’s feeling worried about death but for the most part he doesn’t get upset about it anymore. When grieving a diagnosis that meant my mom's days were few, this book was a lovely, peaceful, straightforward look at life and death. However, I think it's an excellent choice for a child who is asking about death or who has recently experienced the loss of a pet, friend, or relative.

Although death can be a sensitive and sometimes difficult subject to address, this book was very comforting. Robert Ingpen is an award-winning illustrator of numerous books, including The Encyclopedia of Events That Changed the World, The Encyclopedia of Ideas That Changed the World, and The Encyclopedia of Mysterious Places. This statement either reflects the authors' intent on only dealing with the concept of physical death, or it could be interpreted as their belief statement.

In a simple, matter of fact approach you are taken through the life cycles of different creatures - starting with smaller creatures and working up to more complex animals including humans.

Using examples from nature (like ants, crabs, trees, butterflies, kookaburras and rabbits) this book explains that all living things are born, live for a lifetime, and die. When the death of a relative, a friend, or a pet happens or is about to happen…how can we help a child to understand? I used this book this week in my Kindergarten classroom to help them understand the loss of their classmate. You can change your choices at any time by visiting Cookie preferences, as described in the Cookie notice.

It is a powerful book, presenting a way for a child--and her grandmother-- to comprehend the cycle of life and death. Despite many subsequent imitations, I believe my father's book remains clearly the best, and I am sure he would also have been proud to see that it has helped so many people.

With simple text and illustrations of nature, this book aims to normalize death by explaining it as a part of a given creature’s lifetime. Eden…I know you have an army of people around you – and little old me has you in my thoughts and prayers. Simple and to the point without adding stories about heaven or "gone away" etc that can cause confusion in young children.In 1986, he was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen medal for his contribution to children's literature. Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH). He did, however, manage to listen until the end, and I think he absorbed the message it had to give. Highly recommend for the death of a pet or loved one, it's a difficult topic but this book has definitely helped.