Gerbil, Uncurled

A Tell-Me-More Storybook

Written by Alison Hughes

Illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-554-55332-7

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

September 2015

Fitzhenry & Whiteside have a new addition to their Tell-Me-More Storybook collection and young readers have a delightful story that will tell teach them about gerbils and working together to formulate the best rules for all.

All the gerbils know the Gerbil Mottos in Gerbil, Uncurled.  They are:

• The Night is Short: Keep Busy
• Always Keep Your Whiskers Clean
• Celery Tops Come To Those Who Wait
• Many Paws Make Quick Work
• Curl Up Nose To Toes

Important rules to follow to live to a good long life like Grandpa Gerbil who is a five whole years old!

But Little Gerbil, try as she might, is not a curl-up-like-a-ball sleeper.  And though she promises Grandpa Gerbil to try, she panics, desperate for fresh air and to stretch out in the sunshine. So when day ends, she scrambles back to her family’s bedding to wake up with the rest, huddled as she should be.  However, Little Gerbil can’t handle the guilt of accepting congratulations while she “was living a gerbil lie.” (pg. 12)  Nonetheless making some careful observations helps Little Gerbil guide her elders and family to rethink the Gerbil Mottos so that all may be successful.

Alison Hughes shares important lessons about cooperation, family and being true to oneself in Gerbil, Uncurled but young readers will be just as charmed by Suzanne Del Rizzo’s polymer art of the little rodents and their environs.  Following in the artistic steps of Canada’s Grande Dame of plasticine, Barbara Reid, Suzanne Del Rizzo fashions warm hues of oranges and beiges, with touches of blue and turquoise as complementary colours, into gerbil life and details.  Her creatures are adorable and jump off the page with their curls and cedar shavings and braided textures.  I can’t possibly enumerate all the details in which children will delight–a teddy bear, a banana, celery, knitting, alphabet blocks–but they’ll be delighted that Suzanne Del Rizzo shares with them how to mold the dough into their own gerbils.  And everyone, teachers and parents included, will appreciate the additional information about different rodents and gerbil behaviour included in this Tell-Me-More Storybook appendix.

Gerbil, Uncurled will amuse and inform while providing a sweet vehicle for teaching about rules and coming together to make better ones that work for all.

Tell-Me-More Storybooks: from Fitzhenry & Whiteside

A Tell-Me-More Storybook series from Fitzhenry & Whiteside is a set of picture books that focus on telling a delightful fictional story about an element of the natural world and then appending the story with informational text, activities and fun learning.  Currently, the series includes 6 stories that cover mammals, birds, reptiles, insects and gardening.  With Earth Day around the corner, the series would be a great addition to any school or home library.

Kazaak! 
Written and illustrated by Sean Cassidy
2011

Reviewed here

Tooter's Stinky Wish
Written by Brian Cretney
Illustrated by Peggy Collins
2011

Bye, Bye, Butterflies! 
Written by Andrew Larsen
Illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli
2012

Skink on the Brink 
Written by Lisa Dalrymple
Illustrated by Suzanne Del Rizzo
2013

Reviewed here

A Woodpecker's Tale 
Written and illustrated by Sean Cassidy
2014

Reviewed here

Charlie's Dirt Day
Written by Andrew Larsen
Illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli
2015

Reviewed here

Kazaak!

by Sean Cassidy
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
978-1-55455-117-0

32 pp.
Ages 3-5

2010

For little ones fascinated with porcupines, Kazaak! by Canadian illustrator and author Sean Cassidy will delight them with a lovely story of learning one's strengths while teaching them more about these prickly little fellows.  In Kazaak!, they are little fellows: Russell and Spike.  Russell, slightly larger and definitely more worldly, is sharing his expertise about quills with his little friend who is unsure how to work with them.  You see, Spike's first quill-cleaning experience provides a pointed lesson to start the story.

Even while sensing Bear in the forest, Spike is full of questions and continues to take note of Russell's lessons, including how quills can be used for camouflage, for gathering food and for creating noise that deters predators. The best lesson is Russell's swinging and arcing demonstration of his quills kazaaking some ripe berries and a carrot, ready to eat. 

Unfortunately, immediately after showing Spike how he can leave his quills behind when stuck to a tree, Russell is left vulnerable to Bear who moseys along looking for his lunch.  But without his quills, Russell is unable to camouflage, make noises or kazaak Bear, except to tickle him.  Luckily Spike has paid attention to Russell's lessons, and uses his new-found knowledge and a little trickery to appease Bear and rescue his friend.  Most importantly, Spike recognizes that, "...quills are the best!"

Karate has "kiai" and tae kwon do has "kiap" but Sean Cassidy's porcupines have "kazaak" - noisy, emphatic and powerful.  And learning about one's strengths is just as powerful, whether one is a prickly porcupine or a worried child.  While Russell is willing to teach and demonstrate, it is only when Spike must rescue his vulnerable and ridiculed pal that the sweet evidence of that learning is demonstrated.  While rural myths may play up the idea of porcupines throwing their quills, which they cannot do, Kazaak! correctly shows Russell and Spike only detaching their quills when brushing up against trees, or berries, or perceived enemies.  

With deft hand, Sean Cassidy has created soft cushions of quills, still purposeful but honest, in captivating outdoor settings of green fields along forests of wildflowers, rocks and deciduous trees.  Russell and Spike's charming forms, particularly their tubby bellies, in the rich acrylics of Sean Cassidy's detailed drawings, will delight young children into learning.  And with summer here now and lots of children involved in outdoor activities while camping, at the cottage or at parks, Kazaak! is a perfect picture book to start off your child's summer reading.

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In addition to Kazaak!, Fitzhenry & Whiteside's  Tell-Me-More Storybook series also includes Bye, Bye Butterflies! (Andrew Larsen and Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli, 2012) and Tooter's Stinky Wish (Brian Cretney and Peggy Collins, 2011).