All the Dear Little Animals by Ulf Nilsson

All the Dear Little Animals by Ulf Nilsson

"The whole world is full of dead things," said Esther. "In every bush there is a bird, a butterfly, a mouse. Someone must be kind and look after them. Someone must make a sacrifice and see that all these things are buried." "Who must?" I asked. "We must," she said. Esther was very brave. I was little and scared. One summer’s day we started a business called Funerals Ltd., to help all the poor dead animals in the world. Esther did the digging, I wrote the poems, and Esther’s little brother, Puttie, cried.

"First published in Sweden, the book has a childlike tone that is reverent, winsome, and matter-of-factThe kids’ attitudes toward death differ realistically according to their ages and personalities. Sometimes amusing and sometimes moving, Nilsson’s simply written text is always satisfying. Eriksson’s sensitive, beguiling pencil drawings with color washes brighten every double-page spread. Like Margaret Wise Brown’s The Dead Bird (1958, 2016), this pitch-perfect book shows children dealing with death in their own ways and then moving on."

-- Booklist (starred)

"Deftly translated by Marshall, the text laces honest consideration of a difficult subject with winningly mordant humor. Lindgren Award–winner Eriksson’s (My Heart Is Laughing) lightly penned images of the children burying animals are the visual equivalent of Nilsson’s offhand tone. It’s only after the children tackle logistical matters—touching corpses, how to explain death to Esther’s little brother, whether the gravestones need proper names—that a moment of real tenderness occurs: they witness a blackbird’s sudden death, and even brusque Esther is moved. A sly, thoughtful, many-layered story."

-- Publishers Weekly (starred)

"The story cleverly—and tenderly—pivots near its end, giving it a touching depth (with a twist). Eriksson’s keenly observed illustrations include full-page and double-page spreads as well as spots, and they are as wickedly hilarious as the text in their understated expressions and details."

-- Kirkus Reviews (starred)

"Witty, first-person narration, rhyming poetry, and warm illustrations accentuate this child-centered, compassionate exploration of death (and thus life).

Outstanding International Book"

-- USBBY

Ulf Nilsson is a celebrated Swedish children's writer, who has written many books, for all ages. He is a winner of the August and American Batchelder awards. He wrote the Detective Gordon junior fiction series published to international acclaim by Gecko Press. Eva Eriksson is one of the world's great illustrators. Her awards include the Astrid Lindgren Prize and the August award and she is consistently nominated for the Hans Christian Andersen award. Eriksson has illustrated numerous books published by Gecko Press including the internationally popular My Happy Life junior fiction series.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9781776572823
ISBN 10	1776572823
Title	All the Dear Little Animals
Author	Ulf Nilsson
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Paperback
Publisher	Gecko Press
Year published	2020-02-01
Number of pages	64
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.