A Comparison Between Goodbye Mog by Judith Kerr and Duck, Death And

A comparison between Goodbye Mog by Judith Kerr and Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch and how they differ in their portrayal of death in children’s picture book.

I intend to focus upon the two texts; Goodbye Mog (Kerr, 2002), and Duck, Death and the Tulip (Erlbruch and Chidgey, 2011) and how publishing styles differ in the United Kingdom and Europe, with particular focus on how they approach the subject of mortality in children’s picture books. Many authors and illustrators of children’s picture books have attempted to approach the subject of death in a generalised sense; Judith Kerr’s Goodbye Mog is one example of this. However there are a few who have managed to successfully apply the subject of death as a central and critical theme in children’s picture books, one being the German writer, Wolf Erlbruch in Duck, Death and the Tulip. Children as a whole are inquisitive beings who are continually wishing to find out more about the world that surrounds them. This natural curiosity is particularly apparent when the subject may be verging on taboo or makes adults uncomfortable, such as death. It is becoming increasingly common for children of picture book age to have ‘experienced some form of loss, […] in animal form or […] a grandparent’ (Williams, 2014). This is because in first world countries, many adults are now having children after the age of thirty-five because ‘older mothers are generally more educated and [have] higher incomes’ (Sifferlin, 2014) than younger mothers and therefore feel in a stable environment to raise children. As a society that encounters death on a daily basis, whether it is on the news or through movies (Peacock, 2014) and personal experiences, why are UK publishing houses so much more cautious of translating and publishing picture books, with themes that might be considered risky or controversial than their European counterparts? Salisbury and Styles observed that ‘there are many cultures where discussing the less cosy aspects of life (and death) are more commonplace than it is elsewhere…’ (Salisbury and Styles, 2012:113). For instance countries like Germany, Norway, France and Scandinavia are, ‘along with a reluctance to specify a target audience age’ (2012:113) are undaunted by challenging and risky picture books. Whereas UK publishers are rather more

1 restrained and traditional in the type of picture books they are willing to publish and often challenging books are only considered if well-known authors such as Michael Rosen Sad Book (Rosen and Blake, 2005), John Burningham’s Aldo (Burningham, 1991) and Judith Kerr have written them. Evan comments that, ‘95% of the market is [made up of] books that are flat, simplistic [and] predictable’ (Evans, 2015:8). Judith Kerr’s Goodbye Mog is a typical example of how UK publishers, such as Harper Collins, prefer to use euphemism instead of a direct approach to death and will often distract the reader with more mundane activities. In Goodbye Mog the author depicts the ghost of a family’s recently deceased cat Mog, who watches her owners day-to-day antics, acting as a benign onlooker who attempts to help them and the new kitten bond. By continuing Mog’s existence as a “guardian angel” the writer and publishers manage to avoid depicting Mog’s own demise and therefore avoiding the tabooed subject. This also adds subtle Christian connotations to the storyline ‘And she flew up and up and up and up right into the sun’ (2002:29), depicting Mog going to heaven. It is understandable that a books attributes and perceptions on social and political views will never be entirely unbiased but by subtly lacing the storyline of Goodbye Mog with Christian references, the publishers make the book more acceptable to the British public as it aligns with their own beliefs and is therefore less shocking. This lack of alacrity by publishers in the UK to approach ‘taboo subjects means that many challenging picture books don’t get published at all’ (Evans, 2015:10) by doing this, publishing houses are altering the way children read because they underestimate a child’s emotions, believing them to be incapable of mature thought. However, Jenny Colgan wrote that given the opportunity ‘Children will always risk a nightmare as long as there is somebody there to soothe them when they wake.’(Colgan, 2013). By allowing children to read about taboo subjects like death, not only do we give them space and freedom to roam in their imaginations but also make literature relevant to them and therefore preventing them from feeling as alone in their experiences and thoughts. As Erlbruch states:

2 No child is ignorant. That’s only what adults like to think, they like to have the edge on them. But it is in fact the other way round. Grownups live with so many restrictions, they just can’t fathom the intellectual depth of children. (Erlbruch, 2006:2)

Erlbruch’s beliefs are clearly portrayed in his German published picture book Duck, Death and the Tulip when compared to Goodbye Mog. Erlbruch presents a unique and simplistic characterisation of death – with emotions and personality, making it more relatable to a child reading the book. The text is clear and does not patronise its readers but instead is thought provoking with the philosophical dialogue between Duck and Death. The storyline follows the last days of Duck’s life and how she gradually becomes aware of someone with a skull for a head and a worn tartan robe following her. ‘‘Who are you? What are you up to, creeping along behind me?’’ (2011:1) Duck asks at the start of the book, ‘‘Good,’ said Death ‘you finally noticed me. I am Death.’’ (2011:2) this suggests that death has always been present and that it is an essential part of living. The Duck eventually befriends the companionless Death and talks to him about the afterlife and what will happen when she dies, ‘‘Some ducks say that deep in the earth there’s a place where you’ll be roasted if you haven’t been good.’ ‘You ducks come up with some amazing stories, but who knows?’’ (2011:14). When Duck dies, Death carries her down to the river and watches as she floats away. The book remains ambiguous about its religious beliefs, reflecting the reality that no one knows what comes after death. The only certainty in life is death, a concept that many adults struggle with. Meg Rosoff suggests because of ‘Erlbruch’s eloquence in the face the face of life’s most monstrous inevitability’ (Rosoff, 2009) the book will ‘occupy an important place in the literature of childhood long after today's bestsellers have been forgotten.’ (Rosoff, 2009). In addition to Duck, Death and the Tulips thought provoking subject matter it is also extremely aesthetically beautiful and is pleasing to smell and touch. The pages with their white background are sparingly illustrated; this is to ensure the reader is largely focused on the text. The tulip, visible as Death carries Duck down to the river (see appendix A), offers a warm splash of colour in an

3 otherwise neutrally illustrated book. It could be argued that books like Duck, Death and the Tulip could be viewed as a form of vanity; the writer/illustrator is drawing what pleases them rather then what might be deemed appealing to its young readers. Erlbruch argues that if a book’s illustrations and subject matter is able to ‘initiate a dialogue between parents and children […] in a more or less speechless society’ (Salisbury and Styles, 2012:123) then it has helped to create a freethinking individual with imagination. The traditionally ‘bright, primary colours are [preserved as the] most effective for the very young’ (2012:113) that have been so disregarded in Duck, Death and the Tulip, are applied religiously in Goodbye Mog. In Goodbye Mog the ‘living’ characters are composed of vibrant reds, oranges, greens, yellows and varying shades of blue that keep the eye roaming around the page, and unlike Wolf Erlbruch’s white background, the book is filled with scribbling swirls of green, blue and the occasional pink (See Appendix B.) the overall effect appears visually busy and distracting. The book also lacks any pathetic fallacy; there is no muting of colour at the moment of Mog’s death to evoke sadness, throughout the book the colours remain happy and upbeat. Erlbruch states that ‘the pinky aesthetics in English picture books’ (2012:123) is depriving children of quality visual literature and depth, while ‘their childhood is being stolen by the rubbish given to them by their marketing-and-telly-conditioned parents’ (2012:123). The two texts, Goodbye Mog and Duck, Death and the Tulip styles greatly differ in their approach to mortality. Wolf Erlbruch uses simplistic illustrations with very little colour and philosophical dialogue to present death, paying very little heed to his intended audience. While Judith Karr’s images are drawn with incredible detail – Mog’s coat is a multitude of carefully drawn inked lines–and is bright and lively and uses subtle religious connotations to help present the idea of death to children and make it more social excepted in the UK. The UK publishing industry by finding a happy medium between these two picture books – combine Erlbruch’s intellectual yet simple text with the creative illustrations of Karr – will help nurture children’s imaginations and increase diversity in the types of picture books published.

4 Appendix

5 References

Primary Sources

Burningham, J. (1991). Aldo. New York: Crown Publishers.

Erlbruch, W. and Chidgey, C. (2011). Duck, death, and the tulip. Minneapolis: Gecko Press, distributed in the United States by Lerner Pub. Group.

Kerr, J. (2002). Goodbye, Mog. London: HarperCollins.

Rosen, M. and Blake, Q. (2005). Michael Rosen's sad book. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick Press.

Secondary Sources:

Colgan, J. (2013). Children's book illustrations depict a glorious, dangerous world | Jenny Colgan. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/oct/06/childrens-book- illustrations-dangerous-world [Accessed 8 Mar. 2016].

Erlbruch, W. (2006). Nomination for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2006. Illutrator’s Award German Section, International Board on Books for Young People, p. 2.

Evans, J. (n.d.). Challenging and controversial picturebooks. New York: Routledge, p. 8,10.

Peacock, L. (2014). The real reasons why death is still so hard to talk about with your loved ones. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/womens-life/10825710/The-real-

6 reasons-why-death-is-still-so-taboo-hard-to-talk-about-with-your-loved- ones.html [Accessed 26 Feb. 2016].

Rosoff, M. (2009). Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch | Book review. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/dec/19/wolf-erlbruch-children- picturebook-review [Accessed 14 Mar. 2016].

Salisbury, M., Styles, M., Alemagna, B., Smy, P. and Riveros, I. (2012). Children's picturebooks. London: Laurence King Pub., p.113, 123.

Sifferlin, A. (2014). Women are having babies older (again). [online] TIME.com. Available at: http://time.com/95315/women-keep-having-kids-later-and-later/ [Accessed 26 Feb. 2016].

Williams, I. (2014). A child’s eye view of death: the power of picture books to explain. [online] the Guardian. Available at: http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2014/oct/21/-sp-children- death-books-explain-bereavement [Accessed 26 Feb. 2016].