Making books, illustration and the children’s genre, grief and loss books.

Kirsty and I painted covers on her verandah a while ago.

I make books and I'm a publisher under the imprint Kinship Ritual. My book Artworking, honouring tremendous loss has illustrations in the chapter headings. My drawings. With friends, I’ve painted the covers of some of the books with natural pigments.

Is illustration only for kids books?

In Artworking I explore illustration as a (non)-feature of adult books. What makes it so rare? And so special? Take Patti Smith's Just Kids. Or Anwen Crawford’s No Document.

I love good illustration.

And I’ve found illustration to pore over in a special children's genre. Books on grief, life and loss.

Wise, helpful children's books

If you receive an Astrid Lindgren Memorial award, I reckon you have to be a very special writer. Lindgren’s Pippi Longstocking series was once my bible. Looking back on it, perhaps you could see Pippi as a survivor of loss?

Wolf Erlbruch received the award. His book Duck, Death and the Tulip [link to the Marginalian] is one of my favourites. I love the page in which Death carries Duck, laid across her arms, a tulip in her mouth. Death had ‘stroked a few rumpled feathers back into place, then carried Duck to the great river.’

I love The Memory Tree, by Britta Teckentrupp, where a fox dies and is honoured by a wonderful memorial created by his friends in a clearing in the woods. They remember many stories.

Do you know Cry, Heart, but Never Break? The title alone has helped me through many a grief. It’s a wonderful simple story of how we can live with our joy and our sorrow at the time, and into the future. Beautiful Glenn Ringtved.

My favourite favourite is What Happens Next? It’s by Shinsuke Yoshitake. Oh you Japan-o-philes don’t hesitate! Like the other books, it’s one for any age group. Artworking, honouring tremendous loss celebrates the making of books. So when the little guy says ‘OK, I’m going to make my own ‘What Happens Next’ book, and races out to buy a notebook, my face is wreathed with smiles.

a book full of companionship.

Books in this genre that others love

In my Evernote I find this overview. It’s terrific. Here are a couple of examples:

The Rabbit Listened is for a young audience. It looks at the issue of a person dealing with grief or sadness often needing someone who will just shut the *%$#* up. The main character is surrounded by friends telling him how he should feel and what he should do. But it is not until they have gone and a little rabbit comes and sits quietly by his side, that he begins to process his thoughts and start to think and feel on his own.

The Bird Within Me is a translation, based on the paintings, letters and diaries of Swedish artist Berta Hansoon who was born in 1910. It is the most exquisite publication (which I really feel deserves to hang on the wall as a piece of art) but it also explores death of a mother, family obligation, adapting to change and following your dreams despite adversity. So highly recommended for readers 10 – 100.

What's on the library shelf?

Whenever I go into a library I haven’t visited before I check out what’s available for young readers in this genre. So far I haven’t been impressed. More often than not I find little, and of that little, too much that is patronising or poorly written. It’s quite unusual to find a librarian who can go straight to where they’re shelved.

Given the power of books and reading for reflection in tough times, there is more libraries can do. Being able to find these classics would be so great!