This is a very special book. In simple, undemanding terms it explains that each living thing has its own lifetime - plants, people, birds, fish, trees, and animals. Sometimes the lifetime is short and sometimes long, but for each individual there is a beginning and an ending with life in between. Sometimes something makes the life shorter than normal for that species, but that, though sad, is natural. The full page illustrations are outstanding, most taken from nature and beautifully painted - eggs in a nest, fish and shells, spiders and butterflies, a young apple and an ancient grapevine, a rabbit and a mouse, and three generations of a family. All are there to illustrate the different kinds of lifetimes and the always natural outcome of death. One hopes this book will remain in print forever.