Three children decide someone must bury all the world's poor dead animals.
"The whole world is full of dead things," said Esther. "In every bush there is a bird, a butterfly, a mouse. Someone must be kind and look after them. Someone must make a sacrifice and see that all these things are buried."
"Who must?" I asked.
"We must," she said...
All the Dear Little Animals is a picture book for children aged five and up, and covers a difficult subject in a wonderfully unsentimental way. It describes exactly the way children resolve big issues--through play. It was chosen by Swedish children as one of their favorite books in 2008.
Eva Eriksson is one of Sweden's best-loved children's illustrators, winning the Astrid Lindgren and prestigious August prizes. Ulf Nilsson is a celebrated Swedish children's writer, who has won the August and US Batchelder prizes.
(Ages 5-8)