I agree. Euthanasia may be too complicated to explain to young children. But, I do believe in being straight forward about death. The important facts are:Personally, I don't think you tell the 5-year-old about euthanasia (and probably you didn't mean to). Any of these books should help the child deal with the pet's death. When my son was 5 we had to euthanize our old terrier, and we told my son that she was sick and had to go to the vet. Subsequently we told him she had died at the vet, but not that it was our decision to do it then. When they're older they'll understand that better.