Will I Go To Heaven?

by Peter Mayle, Jem Gray (Illustrator)

Answers questions about heaven, who is likely to go there, and what it might be like.

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Peter Mayle was a British author famous for his series of books detailing life in Provence, France. He spent fifteen years in advertising before leaving the business in 1975 to write educational books, including a series on sex education for children and young people. In 1989, A Year in Provence was published and became an international bestseller. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages, and he was a contributing writer to magazines and newspapers. Indeed, his seventh book, A Year in Provence, chronicles a year in the life of a British expatriate who settled in the village of Ménerbes. His book A Good Year was the basis for the eponymous 2006 film directed by Ridley Scott and starring actor Russell Crowe. Peter Mayle died in Provence, France.

Reviews

[N_stefanie Akwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This highly palatable conversations starter was first published in 1979, which I realize is before some of my colleagues in this cohort were born. Obviously, helping children deal with the subject of death is a timeless endeavor. This book was a gift to my children when their uncle passed away, and I must say, it helped. In a very child-friendly voice (with lots of contractions and large print), the author creatively and respectfully lets children know that nobody knows exactly what heaven is like, because nobody living has ever been there. Instead, the author shares what “some people” believe and invite children and families to imagine their own version of what heaven might be like. I especially enjoy the way the author describes how different people might conceive of heaven, such as “Heaven for Mothers,” “Heaven for Fathers,” and even “Heaven for Dogs.”

The book acknowledges that different religions have different ideas of where our souls go after we die and then tries to take a relatively neutral point of view for children from different faith backgrounds. The only exclusively Christian reference that I noticed was that some people think “Saint Peter greets us in the clouds and looks up your name in a big book before inviting you in to the Pearly Gates that are white and shiny. The concept of reincarnation is even included as an answer to one of the many questions, “Where’s a Good Place for Souls to Go?”

The cartoons are of animals, personified hearts, butterfly-winged babies, Martians, Vikings, and all sorts of imaginative images. The depiction of Native Americans on one page is not politically correct and the only real representation of diversity in the illustrations is that of age. The one scary page is what they describe as an outdated image of the devil from the “old days.” The author explains that it is “old fashioned to believe in a strange creature who runs around poking people with his trident…So the old idea of the Devil isn’t as common as it once was.”