All The Dear Animals by Wolf Erlbruch

Review

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Ursula Dubosarsky, Blast Off-The School Magazine, Australia, April 2008

This is a funny book about something sad. A funeral is the special ceremony held when someone dies. People at funerals may feel very, very sad, especially if the person who has died is someone they love. So how can a story about funerals be happy? Sometimes, when you think about something sad, you can feel nervous as well, and try to make a joke. Laughing can help you feel less afraid. Maybe this is what's happening in this book, All the dear little animals by a wonderful writer, Ulf Nilsson. Like all of us, the boy who is telling the story is afraid of dying. One day, his friend Esther decides to set up a funeral business for dead animals. She digs little graves and holds funerals for dead bees, mice, fish--whatever they can find. The boy writes poems to be read aloud at the graveside, and Esther's little brother, Puttie, feels miserable and cries. They're a team! This book is from Sweden, a country in Europe, and so the story was actually written in Swedish. But what you'll read is in English, because it has been translated, which means changed from one language to another. This is a very difficult thing to do, and I think the translator, Julia Marshall, has done it beautifully. It's a funny, sad story, and it's also warm and full of love. You can tell that just be looking at Eva Eriksson's magical pictures. Don't be afraid to read it. It's about the wonder of lives beginning and ending, as all lives do, even the short little lives of tiny ants.

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