Nana Upstairs and Nana Downstairs Tomie dePaola
In this true story from the author’s childhood, he shares his memories of his great grandmother and his grandparents. When he is still young Nana Upstairs (his great grandma) dies. The book deals with death of a loved one in a faithful and realistic way for a young child. While the book doesn’t address life after death, it does talk about how Nana Upstairs will not be physically here although she will live on in his memories.
The topics of death and grief are hard for us to discuss at any age. Despite the difficulty and range of emotions surrounding death and grief, these are topics we must be thinking and talking about throughout our whole life. I recommend this book for a child whose loved one has died or a child grieving loss. I recommend this book as a way to begin or continue a conversation about death, grief, and loss. Because this book is a loving tribute to his elders, I recommend this book for people of any age who have fond memories of their grandparents.
This is my 100th post. Thanks for reading through my first 100 and looking forward to continuing the conversation with you for many 100s more!