The Death Book Quotes

“Sometimes you start thinking about death... and you might think death is a big mystery. It is hard to understand what death is... not only when you’re little, but when you’re big, too....”

“In the heavenly kingdom, maybe all the dead people turn into angels with wings... Some people don’t think that God exists. They think that it’s just black when you die, and that’s it. Lots of people think black seems pretty boring. They might hope that it becomes blue instead.”

“Fish can’t close their eyes. They keep them open all the time, even when they’re dead. Most people die when they get too old... when they don’t have the energy to walk around anymore, and when they almost can’t cope in a wheelchair either...”

The Death Book provides a forum for children to ask questions about death: Do ghosts exist? What’s a funeral? Where do the dead go? What does God look like? Using visual jokes and informal language, the author provides a wide range of unsentimental, disarming ways of talking about death.

“Those who are alive, especially kids and baby animals, play and run and laugh and think that it is fun to discover everything. It’s not very common for people to die when they are young. But sometimes it does happen.”

“Flowers can get brown and dried out when they die, and lose their petals, whereas people usually get pale and a bit more yellow than normal. They might look as if they’re sleeping.”

“It can be hard even if you’re really big. But you can know a little bit anyway. For example, all plants, animals and human have to die in the end. It’s important to make room on the earth for the new ones that are born and starting to grow.”

“It’s not very common for people to die when they are young. But sometimes it does happen. It could be because the person has a serious disease... or it can happen in an accident, like a car crash. Sometimes a baby is already dead when it’s born. This could happen to a kitten or to other baby animals as well.”

“Death can come so fast. One day you have your grandpa. The next day you may not able to see him anymore. Then you feel really empty and sad. You must be wondering where you go when you die. Nobody knows for sure, only those who are already dead.”

“There may be those who turn into vampires... like Stan, for example. Once when Stan was going to bite an old lady and suck her blood... one thousand mosquitoes came and bit him instead and sucked his blood!”