Dying to Ask：38 Questions from Kids about the Afterlife

"Compiles questions about death posed by children worldwide." —Publishers Weekly

Two writers and an illustrator walk into a book and find themselves with thirty-eight questions about death asked by boys and girls between five and fifften years old. How and what will they answer?

For mortal beings of all ages comes Dying to Ask, a book born out of an international project where children were invited to ask questions about death based on a series of workshops. The result? Hundreds of questions from countries all over the world.

Herein lies thirty-eight questions that best represented the breadth and depth of children’s interest in death and related matters, complete with psychological and scientific proofing. Thoughtful, tender, and surprisingly joyful, this illustrated book is an invitation to talk, think, and ask further questions about death.

Some of the questions: Will I die? Where do we go when we die? Will we all become extinct one day? If someone you love dies, how long are you sad for? Why do people say “rest in peace” rather than “rest in fun?”

Recommended for mortals of all ages. To be enjoyed alone starting at age 8 and in company starting at age 6.
Contributor Bio(s)

Ellen Duthie is the co-founder of the Wonder Ponder philosophy and literature for children publisher and education project, based in Madrid (Spain). As a writer, she is best known for her Visual Philosophy for Children series (winner of the Andersen Prize for Best Publishing Project 2023), and is also the author of Is There Anybody Out There? Interplanetary Questionary for Intelligent Earthlings (White Ravens Award and “Los mejores del Banco del Libro” Award). Her fiction picture book Un par de ojos nuevos won the Spanish Bookseller’s Award for Best Children's Book in 2022. She has translated Maurice Sendak, Jules Feiffer, and John Burningham titles into Spanish.

Anna Juan Cantavella, Ph.D holds a Ph.D. in Social and Cultural Anthropology and a Master's in Children’s Books and Literature. Currently, she is a lecturer in the UAB's Department of Language and Literature Didactics and collaborates with the Gretel research group and the Wonder Ponder publishing company.

Andrea Antinori is an award-winning illustrator based in Bologna, Italy. He wrote and illustrated the book The Lives of Lemurs and Octopuses Have Zero Bones. Among many other recognitions, he is the recipient of the International Illustration Prize (Bologna International Children's Book Fair), Best International Illustrated Book (China Shanghai International Children's Book Fair), the Andersen Prize for Best Book 6-9 years olds, and the IBBY Honor List.