“Up to about 20 years ago, children were protected from death and sometimes did not attend the funerals of close family members,” said Anne. It is true that death is not a hot topic in children’s books, and in the past, it were parents who would avoid the topic, according to secretary of The Federation of Children’s Book Groups, Anne Bradley.

Photo: provided by Sarah Harrison & Eva Hibbs Eva Hibbs (left) and Sarah Harrison (right) worked together and published a children’s book with the topic of death: Where is Uncle AL. “None of us want it to happen, and it’s a reality that we ignore.” Therefore, it’s understandable that parents prefer talking about other hopeful things with kids rather than reading them stories about death. “The cycle of life with death at the end of it can be seen as a negative thing,” said Eva. And Eva, writer and teacher from London, has a similar feeling that death still seems like a risk for modern publishers due to the sensitivity of the topic. Sarah from Bedford said, they had lots of feedback from publishers and there seemed to be an idea that parents and teachers were more likely to buy positive books. One publisher even told them: “Ordinarily, death is off the table.” They contacted many publishers, however, got refused for more than 10 times.

Eva said: “It was a strange thought to know that they would never meet him, but he is part of the family.” Wondering how her father would be talked about to these kids, Eva wrote a story, with a little girl asking questions on her family member who has died before she was born.Ĭooperating with freelance illustrator Sarah Harrison, the team finished the book and named it Where is Uncle AL.

At that time, his nephew and niece were not born. Parents may not favour a kid’s book with death as the topic, but it is of great value for children’s development, especially during the coronavirus pandemic.Įva Hibbs’s father died 12 years ago.

Where is Uncle Al? by Eva Hibbs