Picture book a way to start the conversation around death

A new picture book from local author and illustrator Alan Robinson offers an opportunity for parents and their children to talk about a difficult subject.

Dealing with death is not the typical fare of children’s literature, but it is not something we should shy away from, says Alan, a retired Uniting Church minister.

His newly published books Grandpa’s Farm An Autumn Day and Grandpa’s Farm A Winter’s Day complete the seasonal quarter he began 11 years ago with his Spring and Summer titles

The books are based on Alan’s own experiences growing up on the family farm near Young and his children’s holiday visits from their Sydney home. The illustrations and subject matter, immediately recognisable for anyone familiar with farm life in the Central West, have struck a chord with people across the region.

Completing the fours seasons was always Alan’s goal, but a move to Queensland shortly after the first two books were published in 2009 and a new job saw the project put on the back burner.

“I had attempted to do some illustration work on it, but I wasn't happy with it and I sort of shelved it,” said Alan.

“But then the year after we moved, my father died and of course he is Grandpa in the books and I think that greatly influenced my writing on the Autumn one.”

The story deals with the death of a much-loved farm dog and the young protagonist learning to accept death as a natural part of life.

“What came together for me in writing that was first my own personal acceptance of my father's passing all though there was much about that that was positive as he was into his 90s and didn’t suffer for very long,” said Alan.

“And the fact it was an autumn theme and here in the southern hemisphere Easter coincides with autumn… so you have the idea of the falling, dying leaves and the idea of death and the idea of sowing seed in the ground which happened in the autumn followed by new life in the spring. So all those themes came together for me while I was preparing to write that and I came to put together the autumn book which makes it a bit different. I think a bit deeper than the other three books.”

Alan said he hopes the book will be of help to children dealing with grief and that they will see that it is OK to talk about it.

“Whilst people might shield children from death and children might want to distance themselves from that sort of setting there is no avoiding it,” he said.

“Children's first introduction to death is usually through the death of a pet and them coming to terms with what's happened to something that was alive and that they had a relationship with that is suddenly not there anymore. So whether we like it or not children do get confronted with that and I hope that the book will give an opportunity for conversation to happen between parents and carers and their children.”

Alan’s Grandpa’s Farm books are available at Collins Booksellers Orange and can also be found in other centres including Parkes, Bathurst, Dubbo, Molong, Cowra and Canowindra.