I, too, have a sensitive kid (DS8) and I answer his questions simply and straightforwardly. (But, I think I have an advantage because in my profession (veterinarian) I have to relay bad news to people all the time. I've gotten in the habit of saying it straight, then answering each question as it arises.)
My son at age 6 also went through a spiritual questioning period and wanted to go to church and learn about god. We are athiests, so I found a very tolerant unitarian congregation that had religious education for kids. That seemed to answer a lot of his questions better than me saying, "It's just a myth."
My poor son just heard about ear cropping and tail docking for the first time and almost vomited. We have a stray Boxer-mix and DS kept saying how glad he was that our dog had been "wild" because otherwise he would have had his ears cropped and tail docked.
My son also takes several days to process bad events that he hears about. He absolutely won't talk about them until he is ready. So far, he is really good about asking us instead of just relying on what he hears from other kids.
