DD is somewhat infamous for being the 5yo who became completely hysterical when read The Giving Tree at preschool. (I hate that book.) To this day, she doesn't like to even SEE the cover.
I think that one is horribly sad as well. Re the next post, we've never been able to watch King Kong at my house either which ticks dh off tremendously. I think that the kids, and I, both have a harder time watching people abuse sentient beings who cannot defend themselves. Oddly enough, both of my girls were fine with Bridge to Terabithia and actually even watched Schindler's List without horrible trauma. What they have a harder time with is things like King Kong which has become an arguement with dh as the kids have referred to it as "a horrible story of animal abuse."
Despite discord at home w/ dh about this, we've just turned things like that off mid-movie and never finished them. I can see how, in the OP's situation, it's too late for that and Bridge to Terabithia kind of throws the death at you by surprise. We generally found that the type of existential angst caused by things like that couldn't be smoothed over with lies about how something like that would never happen and feeling helpless made it worse when dds were young. I tried to give dds' ways to effect changes in the horrible things they learned of and felt powerless over -- like raising money for genocide victims for instance.
I'm trying to think if there is a way to offer her power over this. Without involving her with people who've lost loved ones, which might make her dwell more, would it be possible for her to volunteer some time for people or animals who don't have someone who loves them as much as she does? Visit old people in nursing homes who don't have family around? We've redirected some of the concern my dds' have about animal abuse to volunteering at the humane society so they feel like they are doing something for those who aren't taken care of even if they can't rescue pit bulls in fighting rings, for instance.
