These past few days have been difficult ones that involve a lot of soul-searching.

I remember the shock of Columbine. It wasn’t the first, or the last, school shooting in this country. Teenagers have turned on their classmates and teachers with guns enough for it to be the subject of books, both fiction and nonfiction, for a long time. A few months ago, I wrote about one of these, Stephen King’s Rage, that he originally wrote in 1966, while he was actually still in high school himself. After Rage was found in the possession of a school shooter many decades later, King had the book pulled from publication. He spoke about his reasoning, and his thoughts on school shooters, at a conference of the Vermont Library Association (click here to see what he said) and called for an examination of our country’s culture and violence. Columbine, and so many other school shootings (and attempted school shootings), all took place in high schools and middle schools. They were shootings by teenagers of teenagers– classmates and teachers. And there is both fiction and nonfiction out there on school shootings, written for teens, parents, activists, and counselors.

What happened on December 14 is different. The real life horror that took place at Sandy Hook Elementary is unimaginable. In writing about real life horrors not that long ago, I made picture book recommendations that might help in discussing some of the terrible things that exist in this world with children. So many of those titles are about events far away or long ago– there is nothing about the possibility of someone walking into a child’s school to commit such a horrifying act. And it’s not just because I couldn’t, or didn’t, think of it. A search of Amazon shows just one book for young children (recommended for grades 3 and older) that even touches on the topic: The Berenstain Bears and No Guns Allowed by Stan and Jan Berenstain. I hope someone writes something for younger kids, and for their families, to help them through this very uncertain and scary time. I have a kindergartener and first grader myself, so this hits very close to home for me, and I wish there were more resources to turn to. Although at this point you have probably talked to your kids about the events at Sandy Hook Elementary if you plan to do so, here are a few resources I have discovered that may be helpful.

When You Are Done Hugging Your Kids Too Tightly, Elmo Will Help You Figure Out What To Say Nextfrom Upworthy.com

Tragic Events in the News— tips for talking to your kids from Mr. Rogers

Talking to Children About the School Shooting from Psychology Today

One of the life saving individuals of Sandy Hook Elementary was Maryann Jacob, a library clerk who called the office when the intercom clicked on and learned immediately of the shooting(she was interviewed by the Boston Herald here). She got the class of fourth graders in the school library to safety, and ran across the hall to warn another class. Then she ran back to the library to stay with her class. So many people put their lives on the line to save others– it’s truly amazing that this selflessness outweighed the instinct for survival.

My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy. No one, child or adult, should ever have to face, or live, real-life horror.