Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

In spite of society's wish to protect and insulate children from death, the experience of loss is unavoidable and there is surprisingly litt le guidance on how to help children cope with grief and bereavement. N ever Too Young to Know: Death in Children's Lives is the first book to bring together diverse fields of study and offer a multifaceted theor etical approach to how children experience death. Using stories of chi ldren's own experiences supported by data from a large research study, Silverman explains the wide reange of effects of loss upon children, the challenges they face as they grieve, and ways of supporting them a s they change and grow in the bereavement process.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Acknowledgments
• Preface
• Introduction
• Part I Making Meaning of Death & Grief
• Introduction
• 1 Historical and Theoretical Perspectives
• 2 Bereavement: A Time of Changing Relationships and Transition
• 3 Grieving and Psychological Development
• 4 Children in the Family Context
• Concluding Thoughts to Part I
• Part II Stories People Tell
• Introduction
• 5 The Death of a Parent: Dealing with Bad News, My World Is Turned Upside Down
• 6 The Death of a Parent: Making an Accommodation
• 7 My Child is Dying
• 8 After a Child's Death: Nothing is the Same
• 9 When a Sibling Dies
• 10 Invisible Mourners: The Death of a Friend
• Part III On Helping
• Introduction
• 11 Help Over Time: Meeting Changing Needs
• 12 Finding Help: Services for the Bereaved
• 13 Teachable Moments: Promoting Competence
• Afterword
• Bibliography
• Appendix: Resources for the Bereaved

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

In the present death-denying society, how children learn about death is important. The author of this well-written, captivating book examines children's grief and parents' efforts to help grieving children. The book highlights useful theory, research, and experiential information for mental health professionals and others who work with bereaved youth. Part 1 focuses on making meaning of death and grief; part 2 examines children's responses to the death of a parent, sibling, child, or friend; part 3 focuses on helping mourners, supportive services, and resources. The children's stories reveal their feelings, thoughts, and fears about death and what helped them cope. Children describe the impact of being told the truth in words they could understand as opposed to a fantasy (e.g., "Daddy died" versus "your daddy is away on a trip"). Children explain how attending funerals and mourning rituals and talking about the deceased helped them grieve and feel involved. Parents describe the challenge of trying to support their children while they struggle with their own numbness, fears, and grief. Silverman also explores stigmatized death such as suicide and AIDS. This book is a useful reference for all academic and public psychology collections and for those who work with children. S. M. Valente; University of Southern California

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Phyllis RolfeSilvermanProfessor Emerita at the Massachusetts General Hospital Institute of Health; Associate in Social Welfare in the Department of Psychiatry; and Co-Principal Investigator and Project Director of the Child Bereavement StudyHarvard Medical School.