For Context – Most of the stories I had grown up with until Junior High mainly consisted of Fairy Tales, Folk Tales and classic stories like Winnie the Pooh and The Wind in the Willows all of which had fairly happy endings. To some degree I believe it is important for children to read a lot of fairy tales (Albert Einstein has a great quote about this!), but I feel like to some extent there's also the somewhat unfortunate possibility that many of them the way they're told today lull them into a false sense that every story has a happy ending as I was…I am aware many of them like Hans Christian Anderson's tales don't all have happy endings and many are darker in their original forums but I think to some extent my point still remains…
in junior high I as many of us had to undertake the reading of Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck and until that point the concept of a story having a sad ending was pretty foreign to me which set me at a severe disadvantage in appreciating Steinbeck's work (that and the teacher knew my family and because I wasn't cool enough for her son she was looking for excuses to get me kicked out as he was also in the class and didn't want me there but that's a story for another time…)
looking back on it I really wish my mom had read me more stories that gradually introduced me to the fact that not everything has a happy ending…if you know of any that I might pass down to my own kids should I ever feel inclined to have any do feel free to share them here…
by Beno988
12 Comments
A Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. Pretty famous for unhappy endings.
The Never Ending Story
Old Yeller – I’m still upset about that one. I was too young for that message.
Bambi
The Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson. I ugly cried the first time I read it.
Pax by Sara Pennypacker
Does the Dog Die is a website that could possibly help with this. It tells you if characters die in a movie, tv show, or book. A lot of children’s books deal with a character or pet dying. Not quite the same as an unhappy ending but might get you started in the right direction.
Where the Red Fern Grows 😭
(What age though?)
Bridge to Terabithia
The Little Prince. I would argue that it is sad!
Anything by Judy Blume!
The Wild Robot is a good intro.
Robot literally kills a nest of geese and is like shit ..guess I better adopt the survivor.
Then a bunch of animals freeze to death in winter.
But, when I read it to my kids I felt it was still palatable and age appropriate for 5-7 year olds. It is kind of comforting in a way, sending a message of yes people die, and it is totally natural.