Read by the author, "Is Daddy Coming Back in a Minute?" is a fully illustrated children's book, explaining (sudden) death in words very young children can understand, based on her own story.
“When we were on a No Girls Allowed! holiday, my daddy’s heart stopped beating and I had to find help all by myself, but the ambulance people couldn’t fix him…”
Alex is only three when his father suddenly suffers a massive heart attack. All on his own, he manages to get help, but his beloved Daddy dies at the scene.
Based on the many difficult questions my then three-year-old son asked me, and written in his own words and from his point of view, this book explains death to very young children in an honest, yet gentle and age-appropriate way. Unfortunately dying is part of living, and this book helps children to feel less alone, and adults to find words to explain the seemingly incomprehensible.
“Is Daddy Coming Back in a Minute?” was written by Elke Barber (now Elke Thompson) and her son, Alex Barber. It was illustrated by Anna Jarvis. Originally self-published in 2012 with the help of crowdfunding, it was nominated for the prestigious CILIP Carnegie and Kate Greenaway Medal for an outstanding book for children and young people in terms of both writing and illustration in 2014. Since 2016, it is available through Jessica Kingsley Publishers.