La Visite de Petite Mort

Probably every parent has at some point faced the frightening question: “Will you die too?”, spoken in a trembling voice and with eyes filled with tears.

Talking about death with your children is frightening. You never know how a little one will perceive it, or what thoughts might come to them afterwards.

Death is a natural part of life, as inevitable as the fading of a flower or the evaporation of a drop of water. It marks not only an end, but also a transformation. Perhaps it would be far more frightening if no one ever died at all.

In Kitty Crowther’s depiction, Death is neither evil nor frightening. He is small, quiet, and understanding, with gentle hands and a kind heart.

No one loves Little Death, and this saddens him deeply. He gives his all just to ease the transition for those who must leave. Death does his work with a soft smile, comforting and calming them. But no matter how hard he tries, people still fear him, turn away, or cry.

And one day Little Death meets Elsewise – a girl who smiles at him without a trace of fear and says: “I have been waiting for you.” With Elsewise’s arrival everything changes: together they laugh and rejoice, and death no longer seems quite so frightening.

And I believe this is the right way to speak to children about death, just as it is: neither cruel nor kind, simply inevitable, and perhaps even meaningful in its own way.