Eighty-nine questions for after by Ashleigh Barton

"Every moment matters"

Ester is a tidy girl who carefully regulates her life. She is also a girl with so many fears that she seems to be way too cautious. Everything is sanitised and all dangers are avoided if possible. Her mind is filled with questions which she notes down in her book - one on each page - mostly about unsolved mysteries. She is sure these questions will be answered in the afterlife. Once her life was actually carefree, then her Dad and Grandma Maggie died and so now all she can see is danger everywhere. She even avoids a flowering bush in their garden in case there are bees which could sting her.

"She hopped in on Mum's side of the car and climbed across the console to get into her seat, just in case the hot pink flowers were full of bees. Not that Ester had anything against bees in general, but she had never been stung before and didn't want to take the chance that she was allergic. She wasn't willing to risk having an anaphylactic reaction and ending up in a real hospital with actual sick people. Or worse."

Ester is terrified of getting sick so when mum tells her that after school she will need to wait at the hospice where she works, Ester is certain this will be the worst place ever. Luckily, she is able to sit in the almost empty sitting room with a lovely view of the garden and there she meets a boy named Peter who, unlike others in her life, IS interested in her big book of questions. They sit together each afternoon doing homework and talking about the questions. 

Ester does not want to meet any residents but her mum introduces her to Joan and it is Joan who sets Ester on a course to solve a mystery and along the way to gain courage and make two friends. I am mentioning two friends because aside from Peter a new family have moved in next door and they have four kids including a girl named Mackenzie (Mack). Mackenzie has an ambition to become a Private Eye Detective.

What is the mystery? Joan lost her sister 62 years ago. They were circus performers. All she has is a faded photograph and a flyer from the circus. Can these fragments give Ester and Mack enough clues to solve this mystery and reunite the sisters? They will need to hurry because after all Joan is now living in the hospice and so clearly her life is nearing its end. 

(Did you ever read a book called Boss of the Pool by Robin Klein? The scenes in Eight-Nine questions for after where Ester tries to avoid meeting the people who live in Sunflower Cottage reminded me of that book.)

Publisher blurb: Ester Star is a germophobe and hypochondriac and she's convinced she's going to die. To prepare for her imminent and inevitable demise, Ester keeps a list of all the questions she hopes to have answered in the afterlife - things she knows she'll never have the answers to during her lifetime. What really happened to the dinosaurs? Just how big is the universe? Are ghosts real? She's up to eighty-nine questions and counting. When Ester's usual after-school sitters announce they are moving away, her mum comes up with an alternative arrangement that turns her world upside down. 

Every day after school, Ester is to spend her afternoons with Mum at work. At a hospice. Terrified of all the things she might catch at a hospice; Ester is anxious every second she's there. But soon she meets Joan, an elderly lady who used to be in the circus. Joan tells Ester she doesn't believe in the afterlife, but she does have one question she'll regret never having answered while she's alive. Why did her sister disappear all those years ago, after they had been so close growing up in the circus together? With the help of Peter, another kid who spends his afternoons at the hospice, and her new next-door neighbour, a tech whizz named Mackenzie, Ester sets out to have Joan's question answered. Will Ester realise there's more to life than worrying about dying?

Ester is the main character in this story but it is Mack (Mackenzie) who I really wanted to meet and hug. She is so wonderful in the way she seems to understand Ester and all her fears and phobias but at the same time she is always ready to push Ester to try new, and sometimes, very daring things.

"That's the trick about fear,' Mackenzie said. 'If you act like you're not scared, you'll trick your brain into believing that you're not. That's my theory anyway. It's not always possible, but it usually works for me."

If you grew up in Sydney in the 1960s or 1970s you may well remember the African Safari park - it terrified me. The scene from page 162 onwards would be a perfect way to introduce this book to your library group.

You can hear Asheigh Barton reading the opening chapters of her book here (start at 2.38). In this post for Paperbark Words Ashleigh talks about the inspiration for her book and the research she completed. The publisher Hachette have made a set of book club discussion questions to use with Eighty-nine questions for after. 

Both of these reviews have lots of plot details:

This is a tender book, which is equally heartbreaking and joyous, filled with adventure and experiences, and learning to live. Learning to see life as more than dying and asking the big questions. It is also about friendship and acceptance. Peter and Mackenzie accept Ester for who she is. They don’t judge, and they seem to understand she is the way she is, which I thought was beautiful. She was allowed to have her fears and worries, and allowed to grow throughout the novel. The Book Muse

Those important themes of loss, grief, anxiety, mortality are deftly handled and paired with hope, joy, empathy and kindness. Ester’s character arc is handled with such skill as we see her gentle but sure transformation. There is never a second that this becomes trite or mawkish, it is always essentially authentic and the reader cannot help becoming fully immersed in the plot and, most definitely, liking these characters – even the irascible ones. Just So Stories

I've been a bit of a reading slump for a couple of weeks - until today! I don't know why but I was sure Eight-nine questions for after would be a good book - and now it discover it is so much more - it is a fabulous book and an absolute page turner. I read the whole 271 pages in one sitting. This book will be a CBCA 2026 Younger Readers Notable and hopefully also on the shortlist. I love the way this book has Australian place names but the story still feels as though it will easily translate to an audience in the US or UK. 

Eight-nine Questions for After is a book with a big heart. It is story that I am sure will linger with me for a long time. 

Companion books:

Long Road to the Circus

Picasso and the Greatest Show on Earth

The Remarkable Secret of Aurelie Bonhoffen

As Brave as You

The Goldfish boy

Busted

Magnolia Wu Unfolds it all

Snap (this is a very old book and long out of print)

If you want to build on the idea of asking questions - Ester has a book with 89 questions and luckily they are all listed in the back of the book. Ester's questions are used as Chapter titles - I really liked this structure. Here are some other excellent books filled with questions:

Pablo Neruda Book of Questions

Twenty Questions

Where does pepper come from?

Ashleigh Barton goes from strength to strength with her writing. Here is her web page.  Check out my previous posts:

Freddie Spector Fact Collector

How to sail to Somewhere

The Fabric of Us by Aditi Anand

Papa's sewing machine fills the house with sounds and colourful fabrics but one day the house falls silent. Now it is just the little girl and her Dad and the silence seems to stretch on and on. How can the little girl help restore their happiness.

I saw this book promoted on Social Media and the illustrations looked so special. This is a new book published in 2026. The paperback from Walker Books is an affordable price.  You can see Aditi Anand speaking about her book here. You can see more art from Aditi Anand on Instagram.

Publisher blurb: The sound of Papa’s sewing machine fills the family home: Snip! Whirr! Clank! Click Click Click! But one day everything changes and the house is silent... This is a poignant and moving picture book about dealing with grief and bereavement, as a little girl copes with the death of one of her fathers. The family bond over Papa’s love for sewing, and in this sensitively told story, the little girl rediscovers this hobby with her father and together, they find a way to remember Papa.

Anand’s vibrant mixed-media illustrations, full of childlike ingenuity, supplement her spare text. Visual cues such as Hindi newsprint in the collage images, Papa’s kurta and footwear, and a turbaned Sikh man in a bazaar establish the setting as India. Color is used effectively to plot the protagonist’s emotional journey. Full-bleed spreads burst with warm hues until Papa’s death, when the colorful backgrounds become steeped in gray-blue. The final illustrations of a patchwork memory piece that Dad and the child create to remember Papa cleverly combine fuchsia, orange, and yellow patterns from the fabrics worn by this family unit and signal a return to color—and perhaps even joy. Kirkus

Anand's art is absolutely beautiful. I love the collage technique incorporating swatches of text into the image, calling to mind swatches of fabric like Papa must use as a tailor. The muted tones of the illustrations also complement the tone of the story about a girl and her father dealing with the loss (or absence) of her other father. Glass of Wine, Glass of Milk

Aditi Anand is an illustrator, author, and printmaker from India. In 2024, she graduated with distinction from the MA in Children’s Book Illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. She is the winner of the Picture This prize and in 2024 she won the Emerging Illustrator V&A prize for illustration. The Fabric of Us is her debut picture book as an author illustrator. Here is another book illustrated by Aditi Anand:

Read the Kirkus review

Six Weeks by Matt Goodfellow illustrated by Joe Todd Stanton

"I love you mum.

Please help me.

I don't know what to do without you."

There is such a level of tension in this verse novel that you just need to read on and on. Alfie lives with dad, his dad's new wife and their young baby Alice. Alfie's mum has died and early on we learn this happened when the baby was born about one year ago and we also read that Alfie absolutely never wants to see the man who lived with his mum ever again. As a reader you will have no idea what has happened between this man and Alfie but over the six weeks of the story Matt Goodfellow gradually lets us step into Alfie's life, and we can hear Alfie's questions which naturally are about life and death and we see first-hand complex human relationships along with the importance of grieving.

I have been a bit of a reading slump lately - I had a couple of new books to read and review but neither of them really grabbed me. I thought about the "Rights of the Reader" by Daniel Pennac. His number two rule is: The Right Not to Finish a Book – It is acceptable to stop reading a book at any point and his number ten rule is: The Right to Enjoy Reading – Above all, reading should be pleasurable and free from pressure. Facing a long day with a few serious life stresses I decided to put away the two books that I was struggling with and pick up Six Weeks. I knew this book would be good, but I didn't know just how good - I was totally absorbed by this story, and I read 150 pages in one gulp before lifting my head and 're-entering' the real world. Six Weeks is a winner! Please put this book into the hands of the readers in your life aged 10+. The powerful storytelling in this book 'blew me away'.

Matt is an exceptional storyteller, and his use of verse is incredibly effective at conveying Alfie’s internal world.  Books for Topics

Six Weeks is a book you have to just sit with after you've finished it so you can fully absorb everything. It's a book I hugged at the end (between the tears). It's a book full of heart-break, healing and hope.  K and O Bonkers about Books

When I’m asked about my favourite books, I always say lots of children’s books and that more adults should read them! Six Weeks is the exemplification for why I say that: it is a subject matter which hits young and old and it particularly resonates with the grief journey I’m on. Your heart will break for Alfie at the start and slowly, that love and hope will begin to be rebuilt. Matt is an exceptional storyteller and his use of verse is so effective to convey such important messages. Check 'em out books

If you read my blog you may know I am not a fan of book endorsements, but I wholeheartedly agree with the comments by these authors:

• 'Utterly magnificent' Liz Hyder
• 'Matt Goodfellow's best novel to date' Sarah Crossan
• 'Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant' Phil Earle
• 'Goodfellow has pulled off something astounding' Anthony McGowan
• All at once beautiful, tender, funny and sharp ... a triumph' Katya Balen

I adored these two previous verse novels by Matt Goodfellow:

The Final Year

Baby by Patricia MacLachlan

A searching, beautifully written story. Kirkus

Larkin lives with her artist mother, father and grandmother Byrd on an island (perhaps it is Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard). The island is overrun with visitors each summer so the residents really enjoy the quieter times when all the mainlanders have left.

We ate dinner as the sun set; candles on the table, the dinner a yearly celebration that tomorrow the island visitors would leave. The seasons on our island rose and fell in a rhythm like the rise and fall of the tides. Autumn was ours with quick colors, leaves flying until they were gone and we could see the shape of the island. The land rose and fell, too, from the north point where the lighthouse stood, curving down into valleys like hands holding pond water. Soon winter would come, the winds shaking the windows of the house, the sea black. Herring gulls would sit out of the wind on our porch, watching for spring that would come so fast and cold, we would hardly know it was there. Then summer, visitors would come off the ferry again, flooding us, the air heavy with their voices. And again, at summer’s end they would be gone like the tide, leaving behind small signs of themselves: a child’s pail with a broken handle, a tiny white sock by the water’s edge. Bits and pieces of them left like good-byes.

But have the summer visitors all left? At the end of chapter one Patricia MacLachlan hints that change is coming and it is coming tomorrow. The family and Larkin's special friend Lalo return from their tradition of farewelling the final ferry to find a baby on their doorstep.

“I cannot take care of her now, but I know she will be safe with you,” Papa read. “I have watched you. You will be a good family. I will lose her forever if you don’t do this, so please keep her. I will send money for her when I can. I will come back for her one day. I love her.”

Sophie's mother loves her baby but she has had to leave her behind. Papa warns Larkin the baby's mother will return.

“I like Sophie,” I said. “I don’t love her.” “Don’t,” said Papa. “Don’t love her.” He sighed. “I like her too,” he said after a moment. “Mama will love her soon,” I whispered. “If not already,” murmured Papa. “I’m scared,” I said after a while. “For Mama.” There was a silence.

There is a hint of sadness to come on the opening page of this book - it is a quote from a poem:

I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. So it is, and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. —from “Dirge Without Music” Edna St. Vincent Millay

This family are carrying a deep sadness. Mama and Papa won't talk to Larkin about her baby brother who only lived for one day. He never had a name and Larkin never saw his little face.

A tiny stone sat there, surrounded by big headstones with angels and flowers and names engraved on them. There was no name on the tiny stone, just the word BABY and a date that showed that the one buried there had only lived for one day.

A great topic for a PhD could be the portrayal of librarians, school librarians and Teacher-Librarians in middle grade books. I adore Ms Minifred she works at Larkin's school. She is a minor but also important character. She loves words, poetry (spoiler alert there is a love story in this book too) and Rebel (who) had come to the island with his Harley-Davidson motorcycle when he was eighteen and had never left. That was fifteen years ago. We had seen pictures of him then, and he hadn’t changed. He was still thin, and his hair stood straight up. He had a mysterious tattoo on his arm that said “Wild Eunice.”

I often think about collecting the opening sentences of books - perhaps using them as a way to share books with readers or even as writing inspiration. Here is the opening sentence of Baby:

In the evenings my father danced.

Here is another beautiful sentence: Byrd lifted Sophie and whirled her around until Sophie laughed. A small island plane flew over our heads and away. And Byrd’s pearls broke, showering Sophie and falling over the meadow grasses like tears.

Publisher blurb: Larkin's family welcomes Sophie into their home, caring for her and teaching her games and new words. They come to love this baby as their own, all the while knowing that eventually Sophie's mother will return one day to take her from them.

The writing in this book is so far above nearly every book I have read over the last few months. I read a huge number of kids books and while many are okay and a few are good, none quite reach the heights of the exquisite writing in this book. It should not have taken me so long to read Baby which was published in 1995. My friend first mentioned it back in 2012 when she read my post about the most famous Patrician MacLachlan book Sarah, Plain and Tall. The label on this post will take you to lots of other Patrician MacLachlan titles. In this post from 2020 I talk about themes in her books such as music, poetry, questions, and family relationships. You might also notice many books include loss. 

Awards for Baby by Patricia MacLachlan:

• WINNER 1994 ALA Best Books for Young Adults
• WINNER 1996 South Carolina Children’s Book Award
• WINNER 1994 Texas Bluebonnet Award

There are only a handful of children's middle grade authors that I put into the category of superb - Patricia Maclachlan; Kate DiCamillo; Sara Pennypacker; Kevin Henkes; Patricia Reilly Giff; Katherine Paterson; Jason Reynolds and Katherine Applegate from the US. Katherine Rundell and Onjali Q Rauf from the UK. And Zana Fraillon, Judith Rossell, Deb Abela, Tristan Bancks and Shirley Marr from Australia.

Companion books:

The Naming of Tishkin Silk

The Summer we found the baby

Foxlight

Here is the full poem by Edna St Vincent Millay:

“I am not resigned to the shutting away of loving hearts in the hard ground. 

So it is and so it will be, for so it has been, time out of mind: 

Into the darkness they go, the wise and the lovely. Crowned 

With lilies and with laurel they go; but I am not resigned. 

Lovers and thinkers, into the earth with you. 

Be one with the dull, the indiscriminate dust. 

A fragment of what you felt, of what you knew, 

A formula, a phrase remains, - but the best is lost. 

The answers quick and keen, the honest look, the laughter, the love, - 

They are gone. They are gone to feed the roses. Elegant and curled 

Is the blossom. Fragrant is the blossom. I know. But I do not approve. 

More precious was the light in your eyes than all the roses in the world. 

Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave 

Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; 

Quietly they go, the intelligent, the witty, the brave. I know. 

But I do not approve. And I am not resigned.”

Gone by Michel Streich

It happened

on a quiet morning

in autumn.

I woke early and saw that my bird had died during the night.

My own bird died just like this one and, like this child, we discovered him in the morning. My mother and I buried my little yellow budgie in our garden under some trees and beside a small rock shelf. I often think about that spot in the garden and wish we had put some sort of marker. It makes me a little sad to think I am the only person now who has a memory of this - I think I was in about Grade 4 or 5 and it was one of the first sad events in my life. 

The child in this book also carries his little friend out to the garden - think about the words in this sentence:

"I gently carried the body into the garden and dig a little hole and there I buried my bird."

Now think about the depth of this sentence:

"I thought about how life ticks away. One minute, one hour, one day at a time."

And what happens when we die? Michel Streich does not shy away from this either - instead each family member contributes their own wisdom. 

Image Source: Michel Streich

You can see the interesting page design used in this book. The text is placed at angles and two of the double spreads ask the reader to turn the book sideways. 

This is a gentle, soft-touch exploration of life cycles and life spans and the emotions that are evoked, made more sensitive by the creator choosing autumn to be the time when the bird passes so the illustrations are naturally those warm colours of red, orange and yellow. Read Plus Barbara Braxton

About Michel Streich: I was born in the Westphalia region of Germany, where I grew up and studied visual communication and graphic design, specializing in illustration. After graduating, I moved to London and started my career as a freelance illustrator. Three years later, in 2000, I relocated to Australia. After living in Sydney for a decade, I am now based in the Blue Mountains West of Sydney.

I am so pleased the CBCA judges did not shy away from selecting Gone which deals with the big topics of death and grief. Last year we had the wonderful book A Leaf called Greaf. It might be good to revisit that book when you share Gone with your library groups from Grade 2 up. 

There are some terrific titles this year in the CBCA Picture Book Notables list - I have picked out four that I am hopeful will make the short list of six - maybe Gone will be one of them. 

I was interested to read the CBCA Judges notes. They mention Old Pig; The Tenth Good think about Barney; When Violet Died (which is a book I have never seen published in 1973) and another book with the one-word title 'Heaven'. I wonder if this might be the book by Nicholas Allen?  My choices for companion books are:

The dead bird

Circles in the sky

The Bear and the Wildcat

When I saw Michel Streich had a 2026 CBCA Notable title I knew I wanted to read it. I adored this previous book:

Writing about Scary Bird in 2021 when it didn't make the CBCA Notables etc. I said: "I am certain this will WIN other awards. I really thought this would be the 2021 Picture Book of the Year winner. Message to the publisher (Scholastic) - please send this book far and wide. Perhaps it might win a future Kate Greenaway Medal as Bob Graham did in 2002 for Jethro Bird Fairy Child or a Caldecott prize as we saw with Hello Lighthouse in 2019. Nop (Caroline Magerl) is on the 2021 Greenaway Medal Long List. I adore Scary Bird so much I plan to add a copy to my own picture book collection."

Here are some other books by Michel Streich:

General Waste

The worst dog in the world

Is it Asleep? Olivier Tallec

Squirrel and his friend Pock (a mushroom) set out on a walk through the forest to the meadow. They love listening to the birds, especially the song of the blackbird but there is no song. Then they see the blackbird:

"It's lying there completely still. We've never seen a bird so close-up. It must definitely be asleep. So we keep very quiet and wait for it to wake."

The bird does not wake up even after they move in for a close look at the beautiful feathers, even after they whisper to the bird 'Are you asleep?', and then they clap their hands but nothing happens. Three heads are better than two so they fetch their friend Gunther. Guther says they should lift the bird to help it fly but they discover blackbird is too heavy and that's when we read something you and your young reading companion probably suspected:

"That's when Pock says maybe the blackbird is dead."

Here is an interview with Olivier Tallec and Gecko Press.

I seem to be sharing a few books lately about deep sadness, grief and death. Take a look at this video where the presenter talks about when and why to share picture books about these topics. Yes, It is Asleep? is desperately sad but it is also a gentle story about friendship and caring and memories. There is so little text in this book - it demands to be read very quietly and slowly. You should add this book to your library and don't be afraid to pop it on your regular picture book shelves - no need to hide it away in a parent or teacher reference collection. It is also a NSW Premier's Reading Challenge title (K-2). [1367138]

Children read a book about death like they read a story on a completely different subject. They don’t identify with it in the same way as adults. Children are not apprehensive about entering this story. And I believe we shouldn’t be afraid to read them these books. Death is part of life. Olivier Tallec

A laudably candid yet child-friendly examination of life and death. Kirkus

With moving reflection, and a tribute to life lived and lost, death is gently portrayed in a pure, uncomplicated way that children can comprehend.  Kids' Book Review

Olivier Tallec’s work has been called “sensitive”, “stunning”, “breathtaking”, and “beautiful.” Tallec was born in Brittany, France, in 1970. After graduating from the École Supérieure D’arts Graphiques in Paris, he worked in advertising as a graphic designer, after which he devoted himself to illustration. Since then he has illustrated more than sixty books.

We have already met Pock and Squirrel and Gunther the mouse in this previous book:

A Better Best Friend

Here are a few other books to explore on the topics of grief, loss and death:

The Memory Tree

The Bear and the Wildcat

The Hare-shaped Hole

The Copper Tree by Hilary Robinson illustrated by Mandy Stanley

This book is sad, very very sad - please read it yourself first to judge if it is the right book for your young child. This group of kids love their teacher Miss Evans but then she gets sick and cannot come to school. She manages to make one last visit to her class before she dies. In the illustrations you will see she has created a wonderful classroom for these preschool kids.

Their new and wise teacher suggests the children write their memories and these are then engraved on copper leaves and placed on a tree in the school foyer. I sobbed.  

This excellent picture book deals sensitively and truthfully with the subject of bereavement. When their teacher Miss Evans isn’t well and can’t come to school, her class maker her a get well card, even Alfie Tate who’s nearly always causing trouble. She comes to see their play and though she’s lost her hair and has to use a wheelchair, she smiles all the time. Not long after that, another teacher Mr Davis tells them that Miss Evans has died. It’s alright to feel sad, he says, or angry. The children make remember notes and transfer them onto copper leaves for a copper tree dedicated to Miss Evans. The leaves are bright and beautiful in the sunshine, just like she was. A gentle way of showing how memories remain to comfort and console. Love Reading 4Kids

I know I said this book is sad, and it is, but it is also very gently told with tiny touches of humour. Hopefully the children or child in your family will never have to experience the death of their teacher but this book might be one you could share long after that event. In my former school a very loved teacher did die - very suddenly. She was a reading specialist teacher and so she interacted with children from many different grades over many years. Perhaps the families of children who were deeply affected by this loss might have read this book - but possibly a few months after these events when the feelings were not so raw. 

Here is a trailer (for adults) from the publisher. I didn't recognise the name Hilary Robinson but I should have because she is the author of several books from the splendid Leapfrog and Hopscotch series.

Hilary Robinson is an award-winning radio producer and author of over 50 picture books. Awards include the 2016 Historical Young Quills Award for ‘Flo of the Somme.’

I had been inspired by the local hospice, St Gemma's, who had constructed a Tree Of Life on to which bereaved relatives could hang a copper leaf inscribed with the name of a loved one who'd died, and, motivated by the powerful effects of memory as means of healing, my book, The Copper Tree, was born.

AND Mandy Stanley is the illustrator and author of the Lettice series. 

The Copper Tree is one book from a series called The Copper Tree Class dealing with life topics. Tom's Sunflower deals with divorce; Christmas Surprise shows there is more to Christmas than presents; and Help a Hamster is about care of pets. Even though these books are from 2014 they are still available.

The Memory Tree by Britta Teckentrup

"Fox had lived a long and happy life, but now he was tired. Very slowly, Fox made his way to his favourite spot in the clearing ... Fox closed his eyes, took a deep breath and fell asleep forever."

His animal friends gather to remember the life of their friend Fox. While they are gathered talking, sharing and listening a small orange plant emerges from the snow and as each story is told it grows bigger.

"The animals talked about Fox all through the night. And, in the morning, the little plant had grown into a small tree. The animals saw the tree and knew that Fox was still part of them."

Take a look at the labels I have assigned - grief, loss, death to this post. Now please take a few minutes to read this previous post about books that deal with these subjects.

As usual, Britta Teckentrup’s illustrations are gorgeous. The wintry scenes are atmospheric and steeped in symbolism. She has also cleverly captured the changing seasons in a lovely page that has been split three ways. Her forest animals are charming and their eyes are wonderfully expressive. This picture of Fox and Mouse enjoying the sunset is my favourite illustration – just look at those colours and the comfortable companionship! Get kids into books

Blurb: Fox has lived a long and happy life in the forest. One day, he lies down in his favourite clearing, takes a deep breath, and falls asleep forever. Before long, Fox's friends begin to gather in the clearing.

One by one, they tell stories of the special moments that they shared with Fox. And, as they share their memories, a tree begins to grow, becoming bigger and stronger, sheltering and protecting all the animals in the forest, just as Fox did when he was alive. This gentle and comforting tale celebrates life and the memories that are left behind when a loved one dies.

Yes, this book deals with a very difficult subject but using animals makes it a gentler reading experience for young children. Your school library needs all kinds of books - happy, sad, funny, frivolous, serious, mysterious, complex and even books like this that deal with this big topic - the death of a loved one. 

Companion books:

Fox A circle of life story

The bear and the wildcat

Waiting for wolf

The hare-shaped hole

Circles in the sky

Ida always

A Leaf called Grief