Book Guide: Everyone Dies
A book about death and life.
A warm picture book that approaches death with curiosity and humor. What happens when someone dies? And what if no one ever died? And why should we take the opportunity to live exactly today?
Questions of life and death
Do you often think about death? What do you think then? How do you think it feels to think about death?
Do you know a person or animal that has died? Who then? How did you feel when you found out that he had died?
When someone dies, the body is still there, it does not disappear immediately. Have you ever seen a dead person or a dead animal? How was it?
When someone dies, people who knew the person can feel sad, it's called grieving. Do you know someone who is grieving? What do you think is good to do when mourning someone who is dead?
Questions about burial, faith and religion
Have you been to a funeral? Where was it anywhere? Did you sing? How did it feel to be there?
A funeral is a way of saying goodbye to someone who has died. How do you think a good funeral should be? How would you like people to say goodbye to you?
What one believes will happen when one dies can depend on one's religion. What does it mean to have a religion? What do you think happens after we die?
Different religions have different buildings where you can see and believe together. What do you know about such different houses? Have you ever been inside a church, a mosque or a temple? How was it?
When someone dies
For many children, death is part of everyday life, they know someone who has died or live with people who are grieving someone's death. It could be a sibling, a grandparent or another close person who has died. For many children, visiting a grave site can be part of everyday life. Some children have been forced to flee conflicts and have experienced death far too closely. Or you are just a child with many questions about what happens when you die. Be that as it may, it is important that we adults do not treat death as something taboo and try to protect children from thoughts and conversations about it. In preparation for what may happen, and as confirmation of what has already happened, we need to talk to children about grief and loss.
About religion
The preschool is a place where all children's different religions must have a place, but the preschool must not practice religion. The difference is that the preschool should not pray or build altars but have philosophical conversations about religion and tell them that there are different religions and there are people who are atheists who do not believe in religion, we are all different. The pre-school's mission is that all children should have respect for different cultures and religions. This is facilitated by creating bridges between what children experience in their home environment and the preschool. Exploring different beliefs in different ways also goes hand in hand with the preschool's mission to make it visible to children that there are many different ways of living and being. What we believe about death may have to do with any religion, with how our family reasons, or how we think ourselves.
