Exploring the Theme of Death in Children’s Literature: A Comparative Cultural Study Examining the Two Picture Books: Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman (1978) and Aisha Rafe’s I feel sad, I am human (2000)

This research aims to explore the theme of dearth in Children’s Literature. It is a comparative study between the classic wordless British picture book: The Snowman (1978) by Raymond Briggs and the Egyptian Aisha Rafe’s picture book: I feel sad, I am human (2000) from a cultural perspective. Culture is rooted in children’s works as it has always been the base of world literature and children are daily subjected to their home culture as much as their adult parents are. The two selected works respectively come from the British and Egyptian cultures. They depict the same concept of loss and acceptance of death, but from different angles and perspectives. The images, analogies and illustrations, along with the character selection, development and growth reflect each individual authentic culture with its inner struggles and challenges. Studying the concept of death in children’s works exposes a reality many hide or ignore, fearing that it might be too harsh or inappropriate for our youngsters to read or get involved with at an early age in life. The two picture books speak of death but not in a scary and fearful manner. On the contrary, they depict the theme as a simple fact of life. Modern trends of introducing psychologically disturbing themes are growing, but the way they are handled marks either their success or failure. Death, its representation and handling, is deeply rooted in one’s culture, both Briggs and Rafe present distinguished picture books which boldly and skillfully bring forward death as the main theme in the story board that can be easily accepted by children. This paper will highlight this comparative cultural representation and its strong effect on children