Book Recommendation: ‘Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs?’ by Caitlin Doughty, with illustrations by Dianné Ruz

Recommended by GRACE JOHNSON, Pulse Staffer and Bibliophile

The fall – the spooky season – is my favorite time of the year to sit down and read. Although my instinct is to recommend one of my spooky reads from this year or last, I’ve found that one of my favorite books so far this season has been a nonfiction title that explored the macabre more than it was spooky.

Caitlin Doughty is a mortician who started a YouTube channel called Ask a Mortician. Her hope was that through educational and entertaining videos, she could create death positivity and educate viewers about their options and rights when they die. This led to creating a nonprofit, The Order of the Good Death, with her longtime colleague.

Doughty’s book, Will My Cat Eat My Eyeballs? And Other Questions about Dead Bodies, is composed of short chapters with accompanying illustrations that answer questions kids have sent to her about death and dying. Yes, children. 

And let me tell you: They have no qualms about asking weird and difficult questions such as: “What would happen to an astronaut’s body in space?” “Will I poop when I die?” “Can we give Grandma a Viking funeral?” and the question that became the title, “Will my cat eat my eyeballs?”

These small chapters contain bits of science and cultural lessons about death and dying, all wrapped up in Doughty’s morbidly funny style. It was a serious delight to read and very informative.