Who’s Dead?

In this book we meet Bird and his mummy and daddy. Bird’s daddy’s daddy has just died and they are all very sad. But Bird’s mummy says daddy’s daddy was very old and that these things happen to old birds. Then Bird’s family meets Teddy and her granny. Bird thinks Teddy’s granny looks old and asks if she is going to die soon too. But Teddy’s granny says she has no intention of dying yet, that she is feeling great and ready to stay alive for quite a while.
Bird imagines that his granpa has been transformed into a pretty butterfly. He admires it but then a while later he forgets he thought the butterfly was his grandpa and swallows it. Now Bird is really sad. But things get better and Bird goes on happily remembering his grandpa.

Sold in over a million copies in Sweden alone, Stina Wirsén’s Who series deals with important and difficult topics with impressive simplicity and commitment for both young and old. With sensitivity and a genuine interest for the child’s perspective, Wirsén is masterful at finding the conflict and drama in everyday situations and guiding both the child and parent through all of life’s big emotions.

The stories are seemingly straight-forward, but never one to shy away from the complexity of life, the Who series tackles questions of grief, frustration, jealousy, loneliness, excitement, and joy, always written with warmth and humour. A Swedish Modern Family for children, the family constellations are a reflection of our time, with single mothers and fathers, stepparents, nuclear families and families of two moms or dads. Wirsén is known and beloved for writing the world as it is, rather than how we wish it would be, perfectly suited for the age group without sugar-coating reality.

Madelene Hovstadius

Literary Agent | Fiction & Non-Fiction, Childrens' & YA

madelene.hovstadius@bonnierrights.se

+46 8 696 89 10

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