Authors: Ellen Duthie, Anna Juan Cantavella, Ph.D.
Illustrator: Andrea Antinori
Link: https://trapublishing.com/products/dying-to-ask-38-questions-from-kids-about-death
Bonus Material can be accessed from the link.
As a deathcare professional, I thought I was well-suited to answer my children’s questions about death and dying. I have been proven very wrong. Some of the questions my kids have are so philosophical and meaningful that I am suddenly stumped, even with my years of experience in the industry. As a parent, I don’t want to lie to my children, but I also want to safeguard their minds from the reality, and subsequent difficulty, of death and dying. Enter Dying to Ask: 38 Questions from Kids about Death. Written over the course of three years, Dying to Ask is an excellent resource for parents of curious kids. Ellen Duthie and Anna Juan Cantavella, Ph.D. have thoughtfully chosen and answered 38 questions about death, dying, and mortality that were submitted by children around the world ages 5-15.
Each “chapter” contains a question, a well-thought-out answer, an illustration, and at least one conversation-provoking secondary question. Interesting fact – the illustrations were drawn based only on the questions submitted, not the authors’ answers. In each answer portion, Duthie and Cantavella work to create a dialog with the reader. Not only are the questions answered thoroughly and thoughtfully, but historical and cultural perspectives are shared to enhance the readers’ knowledge.
Topics covered in this book include, but are not limited to suicide, grief, burial, why it’s hard to talk about death, and organ donation. My favorite question is the opening question of the book: “Will I die?” This question and answer set the stage for the rest of the book.
At its core, this book is an excellent conversation starter, and not just if you have children in your life. I encourage this read for anyone who believes that “talking about death will not cause death” and that difficult questions lead to the most honest conversations.
A quick note to the parent reader: Please read each section before reading it with your child. You know your child best and some questions will be more difficult than others for little ones to digest.
Review by:
Allison Morris Walden
President