Funeral, The

When her Great-Uncle Frank dies, Norma and her family attend his funeral, but rather than view it as a sad occasion, Norma sees it as a fun day as she gets to miss school and see her favourite cousin, Ray. The two youngsters have trouble sitting through the church service and when they get outside and play in the churchyard they explore their questions and understandings of life and death and Norma concludes that her great-uncle would have enjoyed his funeral. This approachable story, with whimsical, bold drawings, provides an opportunity to introduce and support discussions of death, funerals, family, love, and loss, and the stages of life, to children in grades K-7.