When Someone You Love Dies
Helping a Child Cope With Death
by
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A Word to Parents
Our society is uneasy with the reality of personal death. We idolize youth and beauty, hiding death behind euphemisms and rituals that most children of pre-school and elementary age do not understand.
The intent of this book is to explain the death of a loved one to children in plain language that they can understand. Children are much more frightened of the mysterious and the unexplained than they are if they understand the natural process of death and the rituals we use to say “good-bye” to a loved one who has died.
Your job as a parent or a “best grown-up friend” is crucial: to make sure that you do not leave your child alone with death. Simply by reading this book with your child, you can help dispel the fears that a child inevitably encounters when faced with the death of someone they love. This book will not answer every child’s every question, but it will give you a starting point to help your child begin to grasp the reality of death and yet still be able to nurture hope in his heart.
By explaining what ancient peoples called “the Great Circle of Life” --- we come from God, we live, and then we return to God --- we can release our children from the fears of the mysterious and the unknown and give them the precious gift of hope.
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About the Book
Our society is uneasy with the reality of death—hiding death behind euphemisms and rituals that most pre-school and elementary-age children do not understand. Children are much more frightened of the mysterious and the unexplained than they are if they understand the natural process of death and society’s common rituals, such as a funeral, so that they will be able to manage their feelings and thoughts. Using a Christian framework, this book can help dispel the fears that a child encounters when faced with the death of someone they love. Children are encouraged to say “good-bye” in a way that is both meaningful and understandable to them, enabling them to cope with grief and loss.
About the Author
Cynthia A. Snyder, PhD is a retired Registered Nurse, educator, and author, with many years of experience in the field of cancer and hospice nursing and grief counseling. She is listed in Marquis Who’s Who in Cancer: Professionals and Facilities (1985), Who’s Who in U.S. Writers, Editors and Poets (1986 & 1987), and World Who’s Who in Women (1988).
Dr. Snyder is the author of Oncology Nursing (1986), as well as several articles in professional journals. She lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Dan, and her black Labrador, Riley.
Illustrator, Dawn M. Pardun, is an artist in watercolor and acrylics. She also illustrated the children's book, Edward and the Jade Forest (2002). Dawn lives in Wisconsin with her husband, Lon, and two kittens, Agnes and Clara.