Tender Topics: Grief

Examines the history, beliefs, and customs surrounding death from cultures around the world.

A family of forest animals learns to cope with the death of a loved one.

With the help of her family, friends, and school counselor, Raya finds a way to grieve the loss of her unborn sister Nura, and to share the love she will always feel for her.

"I never got the chance to know you and play with you, but I think of you a lot. A child eagerly waits for their younger sibling to be born. They help Daddy decorate the room, pick out toys with Grandma and build a sled with Grandpa. Auntie and Uncle are excited too, and the narrator helps them to pick out an exciting book and prepare a magic trick to show the baby. When Mommy and Daddy come back from the hospital, there is no baby with them -- only...

Soon after his mother's death, Matt takes a job at a funeral home in his tough Brooklyn neighborhood and, while attending and assisting with funerals, begins to accept her death and his responsibilities as a man.

A Japanese family mourns the loss of a wife and mother by making origami cranes and using the Wind Telephone to communicate their feelings of loss and yearning.

"One morning, Fox is drawn toward the forest. There, in a clearing, he sees something small and silent, perhaps forgotten. It's a bird, lying as still as can be. Fox is confused, upset, and angry. Is the bird broken? Why doesn't it move or sing, no matter what Fox does? His curious antics are spied by a little moth, who shares a comforting thought about the circles in the sky--that the sun, even after it sets, is reflected by the moon and the stars,...

"Once, in a tiny village in India, there was a young boy who loved to paint. He lived with his grandfather, who taught him to paint with his fingers, to make paints from marigolds and brushes made from jasmine flowers. Sometimes, the village children would watch them painting together, and the boy's grandfather would invite them to join in. They didn't have much, but they had each other. After his grandfather dies, the boy notices a little box wrapped...

Comfort Snowberger is well acquainted with death since her family runs the funeral parlor in their small southern town, but even so the ten-year-old is unprepared for the series of heart-wrenching events that begins on the first day of Easter vacation with the sudden death of her beloved great-uncle Edisto.

"After a young girl's mother dies, Empty appears and silently takes up the big blank space left behind. For some time, the girl can't connect with her dad or any friends, and Empty is her closest companion. But then, a happy reminder of her mom pops up one day, and this bit of joy helps the little girl open up to the world around her. Empty stays around, but the little girl starts to connect with others and share new moments of happiness with them....