Front Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- Mourning is essential to healing -- Avoiding or suppressing grief is harmful-even to kids -- Grief is a process, not an event -- The tenets of companioning the bereaved -- A note to you -- Chapter One: Children's grief-why it's unique -- Exclusive features of childhood grief -- Grief through the ages -- Helping infants and toddlers when someone they love dies -- How children ages 3 to 5 typically respond to grief -- How children ages 6 to 11 typically respond to grief -- How children ages 12 to 19 typically respond to grief -- The six needs of mourning -- Chapter Two: Companioning children through grief -- Habits of a good companion -- Let him lead -- Be an observer -- Encourage questions -- Welcome her feelings -- Be patient -- Include her in ceremonies and conversations -- Finding the right words-guidelines on how to talk to grieving children -- Talk openly about death -- Share your feelings -- Be honest and direct -- Avoid euphemisms -- Teach what you believe -- Give inviting, loving nonverbal cues -- Attend to your own grief -- Chapter Three When a parent dies -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Seeking help for complicated mourning -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Chapter Four: When a sibling dies -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Recognizing "griefbursts" -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Chapter Five: When a grandparent dies -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Memory work techniques -- What it means to die of natural causes or "old age" -- Chapter Six: When a pet dies -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Chapter Seven: When a friend or classmate dies -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11.

When death is sudden and traumatic -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Chapter Eight: When someone dies by suicide -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Stigmatized deaths: suicide, AIDS, homicide -- Chapter Nine: When someone dies by homicide or manslaughter -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- Finding the words when someone goes missing -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Companioning when violent attacks happen at school or in the community -- Chapter Ten: When someone close has a terminal or life-threatening illness -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Chapter Eleven: When the child is dying -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- Chapter Twelve: Attending a funeral or ceremony -- Preschoolers-ages 3 to 5 -- School-agers-ages 6 to 11 -- Teenagers-ages 12 to 19 -- The language of funerals -- A final word -- Back Cover.