I would like to extend my gratitude to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an early listen to this title as an audiobook.

As someone whom worked with grief in animal hospitals and having experienced the grief of losing friends and family this title was a gentle introduction to the concepts and feelings surrounding death. My interest in this title comes as I begin to be aware that I will soon have to explain death to my own child when our pets or family members come to pass. We need to talk about death, truly was a gentle experience, the calming piano music accompanying the narration was helpful for setting the tone to a light and bright feeling rather than dark and sad as many would associate with discussion of death. I appreciate the scientific details and easy explanation of such. I feel this is appropriate for children to explain the how’s of death. The spiritual aspects of this text are open ended allowing it to conform to many cultures. I feel this text will allow many families to learn about death in a neutral way without fear, holding facts at the forefront. The audiobook version of this title was easy to listen to and rather captivating with the background music. Recommend for children 5 and up with parents presence, discretion, and availability for discussion.

The was so well done and I think this can benefit folks of all ages. The piano accompaniment allows the topic to flow like the Circle of Life Stage that its intended to be. The Death Buddy Idea... In theory it makes sense but I am not sure if anyone would want to sign up for such a relationship. I would like to see how that would be actually done. Overall, its a lovely book and a quick read with enough wonderment to motivate further research. I really enjoyed it. #NetGalley

I will definitely be purchasing this book to have on hand for students. I think it did a great job with explaining what death and grieving is without over simplifying it. I also really enjoyed the narrator voice because it was soothing, but yet not childlike. Honestly, I know this book is geared towards children to help them get a better understanding but I felt more comfortable hearing about the topic through this text. I would give the audio a five out of five, but I need to see what the book is going to look like as far as pages to see if it’s going to be like chapter book or picture book.

Beautifully written! I appreciated how clear and age appropriate the explanations of death and dying were to the reader. Death can be such a taboo subject and I appreciated how the author depicted the normalcy of death as a part of life.

This was a a very an informative (and easy to listen to) short audiobook about death and grief across cultures.
I have spoken a lot about death and grief with my kids since my mom died in 2021 and will absolutely be listening to this with them sometime this year.

This is a very thorough book filled with detailed information around all topics. This is difficult to utilize as an audiobook because I feel pictures from the printed version would help the understanding. I also feel you would want to hop around in the topics rather than read cover to cover. However, this books content is very child friendly and would be a great explanation as well as conversation starter between adult and child.

I listend to the audio version of this, and found the content to be excellent. The book explains how to appropriately discuss feelings and grief and discusses the way different cultures celebrate and honor deaths. It also delves into historic burials and death (such as ancient Egyptian mummification) and modern burial options.

The narrators' voice was calm and comforting and was a wonderful and appropriate choice for this reading. However, there was music that played in the background for the entire book, and for me that was very distracting.

I think this is a great book for children to listen to as they work through questions and worries about life, death, grief, and funerals.

Thank you to Net Galley and MacMillan Audio for this ARC. All of my opinions are my own.

We Need to Talk About Death: An IMPORTANT Book About Grief, Celebrations, and Love
by Sarah Chavez


the audible version of this is beautiful and comforting. The voice of the reader makes it a soothing conversation about many historic and modern burials and funerals, and death. The book shows that the fear of the death is accentuated in modern times because of the change of funerals, and modern methods of separating life from death. It celebrates cultural events around death all around the world. The book focuses more on how you can understand your feelings, express your grief. The book makes a point on showing the loss and how we continue after the death of others. The book is embracing all the different ideas, cultural practices over the entire human history.
Unfortunately a needed text in schools. I think the councilor having this in book and audio form would help children face grief.

I am a social worker at an elementary school and this book will be so helpful to the students I work with who are experiencing grief and loss. It explains what grief and loss is, what funerals may look like for different groups of people/ religions, and helps normalize the emotions one may feel regarding grief and loss. I really appreciate this audiobook!

As a clinical mental health counselor master’s student and mom of four I found this book exceptionally helpful. The clear and age appropriate explanation of death, dying and grief facts and rituals was very appealing. It clearly explains what we know scientifically, ways we may feel emotionally and carefully discusses the unknowns. I have already preordered multiple copies so I can share them with my children, clients and have them on hand for when friends may need them. Additionally, I have recommended it to multiple clinicians in my professional circles.

Thank you so much to @netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the chance to review We Need to Talk About Death: An IMPORTANT Book About Grief, Celebrations, and Love by Sarah Chavez.
Narrated by Erin Ruth Walker, this was a beautiful, factual book that described death, different ethnic burial traditions, and interesting beliefs from a variety of locales. There were even discussions about some “scary” things - ghosts are often depicted as such because of burial shrouds, for example. Written in a way that is not
Intimidating and easy to understand, this book is appropriate for children while still being informative for adults.

As a nurse and nurse researcher who has provided end-of-life care to many patients, this was really a lovely, informative book. Walker’s voice is melodic and reassuring.

As someone who lost my grandfather at a young age, this is a book I wish someone would have shared with me. Helping me understand what was going on more than just expecting me to power through and accept it.

The author does well confronting the struggles of handling death at a young age honestly and without being morbid or grizzly. It is a scary and sad thing, and something many grownups don't want to talk about.

This is something I would recommend to anyone who needs that support.

Thank you, Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners, and Children's Nonfiction for this audiobook of We Need to Talk About Death by Sarah Chavez, Narrated by Erin Ruth Walker for a free review.

4/5 star. I was very interested in this book because of the cover illustration and the description of this book. The book was interesting because it provided some of the celebrations of death in different cultures. I'm currently in the process of grieving myself, after the loss of my 3rd son, and I'm trying to work with my kids on learning about death. I feel that it's beneficial when my kids get a little bit older and cognitively understand death. My oldest is a child with special needs and he doesn't cognitively understand the meaning of death, but I do love hearing about how some different cultures celebrate life and how I could also include him when we celebrate the anniversary of his little brother. I did research a little bit more about this book and saw that it is aimed at ages of 10-14 years old. If anything, I feel like this preps me for when my kids are older and/or ask about death.

The narrator did a fantastic job. It did feel like I was hearing a list, but it was nice in my situation right now. I'm pretty open to finding out some sort of "celebrations" when my son's due date anniversary comes up.

Thanks to NetGalley for letting me listen to this audiobook!
Because of the picture and the description, I thought the book would be more about dealing with death. Instead, it went through the many ways different cultures acknowledge and memorialize death.
The narrator was good, but it felt as though I was listening to a list. There were a lot of interesting things, though, and some I didn't know about.