Is It Asleep?

Is It Asleep? by Olivier Tallec follows the curious adventure of Squirrel and his best friend, Pock the mushroom, as they sit on an old stump watching birds fly by. When they grow tired of this, they decide to wander to the yellow meadow to enjoy the blackbird's song. However, today the bird is nowhere to be found.

The two friends search everywhere until they finally come across the bird lying on the path, all stretched out and quite still. They assume it must be sleeping, so they sit quietly and patiently await its awakening.

This true-to-child story perfectly captures a natural encounter with an animal that has passed away. It is both dryly humorous and serves as a profound example of how to address the comings and goings of life.