By Judith Viorst
Barney the cat has died, and the day before the funeral the boy's mother asks him to think of ten good things to say about him. He can only get to nine.
Barney the cat has died. The boy who tells the story cried, wouldn't eat his dinner, and didn't want the television on. To give him something to hold onto, his mother says they'll have a funeral tomorrow, and he should think of ten good things about Barney to say at it. He works on the list but only reaches nine. The next day the family buries Barney in the backyard, in a box. His sister is sure Barney is in Heaven; the boy isn't, his friend Annie takes him on about it, and his mother tells him nobody really knows for certain. A few days later he's out planting seeds with his father, who explains how things in the ground turn into dirt and help the flowers grow. That becomes the tenth good thing: Barney is in the ground now, helping the garden come up. The book was first published in 1971.
I'd reach for this one when a pet has died and your child is asking the big question out loud, because the book doesn't settle it for them. The sister says Heaven, the boy has his doubts, the mother says nobody knows for sure, and that leaves the answer where your family can put its own belief. It also shows the plain mechanics of a burial: the box, the hole in the yard, the words said over it. For a lot of children that's the exact part they can't picture, and seeing it helps. And it's short and dry, even a little funny in places, which gives a child who feels silly for crying this hard over a cat somewhere to stand.