Duck, Death, and the Tulip (review)

When Duck finally accosts the lurking figure behind her, she's startled to find out that it's Death, who stays close by "just in case." As the conversation goes on, however, Duck decides that Death is "really quite nice," and she and Death become chums, spending the summer discussing what happens after death and wandering down to the pond together. Come the winter cold, the aging duck succumbs ("She'd stopped breathing. She lay quite still"), and Death carries his friend to "the great river" and sends her on her way. German author-illustrator Erlbruch brings unusual charm and accessibility to this fable-like tale of the life cycle's end that offers a comradely picture of Death akin to that in Bateman's Keeper of Soles (BCCB 4/06). The audience will, like Duck, find Death surprisingly personable company, and this matter-of-factly humanistic portrayal may reassure kids spooked by more gruesome tales and elicit discussion from those uneasy about a sometimes frighteningly mysterious aspect of life. The art is minimalist, with the cut-paper figures of Duck and Death modeled with soft colored pencil strokes and layered on ivory backgrounds; the pale neutrality of the palette isn't going to draw youngsters' eyes, but there's an appropriately quirky appeal in the ballet-like interplay between skull-headed Death (in a long checked coat) and gimlet-eyed Duck. The titular tulip, never mentioned in the text, is Death's pretty accessory, hidden from Duck while she's alive but adorning her body as a sweet valedictory touch as she floats downriver. The offbeat nature of the tale keeps it from being didactically biblio-therapeutic, and it's likely to provoke even more thought than the conventional accounts of aging pets and their grieving owners.