Mr. Muffin Teach Children about Death

When my oldest son just turned three he find a dead bird in his favorite playground. The weeks that followed he had many questions about death. I tried to answer but find it very hard to not complicate things or make him frighten. When we a month later visited Sweden we borrowed a book from the library, “Adjö herr Muffin” written by Ulf Nilsson and Anna-Clara Tidholm, that told a beautiful story about the death of a guinea pig. It was brilliant! Now I discovered that there has been an English translation of the book that in English is called “Goodbye Mr. Muffin” and that it is available at SWEDEN BOOK SHOP. I strongly recommend this book to anyone with curious little children at home. For you to get the gist of the story I quote the description from SWEDEN BOOK SHOP website:

“In his youth, Mr. Muffin was a strong guinea pig who could carry a whole cucumber on his back. Now old, grey and tired, he looks back on his life. Then one Wednesday morning, he feels a sharp pain in his stomach...

This picture book is for ages three and up. It tells the touching story about the death of a much-loved pet. Growing old, death rites, the question of the afterlife, all handled with warmth and gentle humor.

The story also shows that the final stages of life need not be a 'difficult' subject. A beautiful book that children love - it is one of Sweden's bestselling and most borrowed children's books in 2007 - Goodbye Mr Muffinwon the 2002 Swedish August Prize. Voted book of the year by a children's poll in both the Swedish Book Jury Prize (2002) and the French Chronos Prize for Youth Literature (2008-2009).”