Duck, Death and the Tulip

“The most extraordinary picture book I’ve seen in many a year. A duck becomes friends with Death, and it’s the most natural thing in the world. Trust me, adults get far more weirded out by this book than children ever do. Amazing.” – Patrick Ness, Time Out London“The gold standard of picture books about death is “Duck, Death and the Tulip….” It’s hard to describe how this extraordinarily tender book manages to be both heartbreaking and comforting, but it does.” – New York Times (US)“The most moving book I’ve read this year is the German picture book Duck, Death and The Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch, about the strange, uneasy friendship.” – Meg Rosoff, The Financial Times US)

Duck, Death and the Tulip by Wolf Erlbruch is a superb picture book from Germany, that tells a gentle story of the relationship between Death and a duck. Death is portrayed as a sympathetic figure in a dressing gown who is with us all the time, but who only comes into Duck’s consciousness towards the end of his life. It is warm, poignant and witty.

The German children’s book author and illustrator Wolf Erlbruch offers a wonderfully warm and assuring answer in Duck, Death and the Tulip - a marvelous addition to the handful of intelligent and imaginative children’s books about death and loss. 

“a deft look at mortality.”

Wolf Erlbruch is a celebrated and original German author and illustrator. Winner of the 2006 Hans Christian Andersen Medal for Illustration, he has received many other awards. Erlbruch is recognised for his witty and winsome stories and his sophisticated synthesis of collage and drawing.