Death and Dying in Children’s Literature

2024
publication
𝒟𝑒𝒶𝓉𝒽 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒹𝓎𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝒹𝑒𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓉𝑒𝒹 𝒾𝓃 𝒻𝒶𝒾𝓇𝓎 𝓉𝒶𝓁𝑒𝓈, 𝒻𝒶𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈, 𝒻𝑜𝓁𝓀𝓁𝑜𝓇𝑒, 𝒸𝒶𝓇𝓉𝑜𝑜𝓃𝓈 (𝓈𝒸𝓇𝒾𝓅𝓉𝓈), 𝓂𝓎𝓉𝒽, 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒹𝓇𝑒𝓃'𝓈 𝓁𝒾𝓉𝑒𝓇𝒶𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒
We all must die. However, we tend to avoid discussing this tangible evidence of mortality in our vibrant daily lives. Instead, our languages embellish the death with euphemistic phrasing to soften the reality. We affirm denial by describing a “loved one” lying in a “slumber room” that “looks asleep” until the “service,” after which a “coach” transports the “remains” to a “memorial park” for deposition in a “space” that has been “opened.” People “pass away,” “move on,” or are said to be “going to a better place.”

This linguistic approach extends especially to children’s literature, where death and dying are often neglected or thinly coated with metaphoric, embellished, or humorous expressions. Such portrayals may downplay the consequences of lethal behavior, transforming a sledgehammer into a mere creator of a silly bump on Tom Cat’s head. They may romanticize traumatizing moments, depicting angels greeting a seriously ill mother in bed and leading her away among flowers and glows. The dying process of unwelcome characters may be disregarded, with the evil witch thrust into an oven, the malicious stepmother forced to wear “red dancing shoes” made of hot iron, and the notorious wolf meeting his end through disembowelment — these dramatic conclusions in children’s stories symbolize an innocent but cruel victory, showing no mercy to the antagonists’ death, which is almost portrayed as joyful for all.

In this anthology, I curated texts depicting the death and dying of animal friends, human friends, family members, or oneself in American children’s literature published between 1950s – 2000s. Is it necessary to depict death in children’s books, and why? In comparison to adult literature, where audiences can reason, rationalize, and deal with abstraction, the intention of the denial (or acceptance) of death in children’s texts may vary. And how do these texts tastefully, truthfully, or artistically deal with the subject of death?