Grandparents in Death-Related Literature for Children

Abstract

In this article, I want to explore some of the ways in which grandparents are represented as sharing death and loss experiences in death-related literature designed to be read by or with children. My concern is to ask how grandparents are portrayed in these books and how their interactions with children are depicted. On the whole, one would expect that literature of this type would depict grandparents in a favorable light. Nevertheless, we can still inquire about the different roles grandparents play in helping children cope with death and loss, and about the specific things that they are described as doing that are thought to be helpful. Grandparents have special opportunities in such interactions. As elders, they can represent the accumulation of experience and wisdom that would have been part of their customary roles in traditional societies. Most often, and especially so in this particular body of literature, they are not responsible for the day-to-day care of their grandchildren. As such, they have a unique freedom to intervene with and relate to grandchildren in ways that might not be typical or acceptable on the part of parents and most other adults in our society. In addition, in our society, the deaths of grandparents are among the most common death-related experiences that children might encounter.