Younger Children

 When I Die: A meditation on death for children & their families

When I Die is a meditation on death that is sure to resonate with children of all ages. Are you looking for a way to talk about death to your child or grandchild? Are you grappling with the issue of your own mortality? When I Die, a simple but powerful meditation, can give you a safe place to start the discussion.

Carol Matas explains how she came to write When I Die

"The entire manuscript came to me all at once while I was meditating. I have changed it a little but it is almost exactly as I 'heard' it originally. I wasn’t thinking about anything in particular, my mind was rather blank, so I can’t explain why I thought of it or how it came to be. But I feel comforted by it in some strange way.

"The circle of life will go on with or without me. Some people tend to think they are the centre of the universe and all important. Others think they don’t matter at all and no one would care if they lived or if they died. I tend to think that there is a balance in almost everything. We are all the most important things in the universe- after all, Jewish thought says that if you save one life you have saved the world. And it is also true that the world will go on without us and that is a good thing. Everything is important or nothing is important. I believe everything is."

Published in 2013 by Fictive Press.

The Lost Locket

"If I were you, I wouldn't take it to school," Mom said. "It'll get lost there for sure."

But Mom didn't exactly say Roz couldn't take her great-grandmother's special locket to school. Roz is sure she's old enough to take good care of it. Besides, everyone in the class is going to be so impressed…

When the locket disappears, Roz feels sick. And when she figures out who took it, she feels even sicker. Can she handle Curtis?

Published by Scholastic Books, 1994.

Safari Adventure in LEGOLAND

Elephants and galloping giraffes are pretty dangerous–especially if you are only a few inches tall!

"We have to stop him," Aaron said. "He'll get hurt."

Aryeh smiled. "It's very difficult for a Lego person to actually get hurt, but the way Safari Bill is behaving, he'll find a way. You're right, we'd better try to stop him."

"He's only as tall as the elephant's foot," Aaron said. "How on earth does he think he can hunt an elephant?"

Publishers: New York and Toronto, Scholastic, 1993

Adventure in LEGOLAND

Only Aaron can rescue the prince . . .

Aaron was always so different from all his friends. They were quiet, well-behaved, and rarely got into trouble. He always did. And now it was the same. Out of everyone in the hotel, he was the only one who had heard Queen Titania's call for help–why? Why did he always have to be so different?

"I have a son," the queen told him, "just your age." She paused and Aaron thought he saw a tear form in her eye. "He's been kidnapped by Bad Bart from Legoredo. Will you go and rescue him?"

Publishers: New York and Toronto, Scholastic, book club 1991, trade 1992.