It is autumn and time for Hedgehog's annual sleep. He asks Rabbit to save him a little bit of winter, so that when he wakes up he can see what it's like. But Rabbit is an animal full of forget. Will he keep his promise?
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Of this tale of two animal friends, one who hibernates and one who doesn't, PW wrote, "Stewart handily employs spare sentences and snappy dialogue, and the emotional connection between Rabbit and Hedgehog emits warmth and wit." Ages 3-7. (Dec.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 2-Every year just before winter arrives, Hedgehog settles down for a long nap. Wondering what that season is really like, he enlists Rabbit to save "a little bit" of it for him. Rabbit agrees to help but is forgetful. Midwinter, Rabbit comes across a message inscribed on the bark of a tree reminding him of the request and comes up with an ingenious way to preserve a piece of winter for his appreciative friend. Children will laugh at the animals as they toss zippy dialogue back and forth as real friends do. Riddell alternates full-color and white backgrounds and full-page and spot illustrations effectively. The facial expressions and comic mannerisms of the creatures will allow youngsters plenty of opportunities to surmise how the story is progressing while the endpapers and illustrations echo the seasonal changes beginning in the throes of winter and ending in the lushness of spring.
Lisa Gangemi Krapp, formerly at Sousa Elementary School, Port Washington, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Lisa Gangemi Krapp, formerly at Sousa Elementary School, Port Washington, NY
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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More About the Author
Paul Stewart is the co-creator of the bestselling Edge Chronicles series, with Chris Riddell. He is also the author of a number of previous titles for children including The Wakening.
Talking to Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell about the Edge Chronicles
Q. What was your inspiration for The Edge Chronicles?
Paul: The Edge Chronicles started off with the map. Chris drew it and gave it to me saying, 'here is the world, tell me what happens there.'
Chris: I drew a map that looked like the edge of a map because I've always been fascinated by the edges of maps - the place where the known world ends.
Paul: My main inspiration for the Deepwoods was perhaps the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, though other books-Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Gormenghast, Gulliver's Travels- also played their part.
Q: What was your favorite character(s) to create?
Chris: My favorite character is the spindlebug. It was easy for Paul to write that it was see-through, like glass, but a challenge for an illustrator to draw. The creatures live an immense amount of time-up to four centuries -which means that they witness a lot more history of the Edge than other characters.
Paul: My favorite characters are the banderbears. Chris drew them first as fierce, pyramid-like bear creatures. Because they looked so ferocious, I made their character more timid. We have enjoyed developing the creatures as the series has progressed, learning about their natural habits and habitat and creating a language all of their own.
Q: Where did you come up with the names for your characters? The various personalities and life stories?
Paul: Both of us hate the clichéd fantasy names and tried to make the names in the Edge world a little different. Woodtrolls have woody names, like Snatchwood, Gruffbark, Snetterbark. Slaughterers have 'meaty' names like Gristle, Sinew, Tendon and Brisket. The academics have Latin/Basque names with lots of ius's and x's. Cowlquape, who goes through lots of changes, has a name taken from the German for tadpole - Kaulquappe. While Twig, of course, is just a tiny bit of the forest.
As the series has progressed, with prequels and sequels, the life histories of the various characters have become more deeply described. So Twig's mother, Maris, is only mentioned in Beyond the Deepwoods. In book 4, the Curse of the Gloamglozer, we meet her as a girl. And in the book we have just completed, Book 7 - Freeglader - we learn all about what happened to her after she abandoned her baby in the Deepwoods. The continuity revealed as the story unfolds is deeply satisfying.
Q: What was your favorite book as a child?
Chris: Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
Paul: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Q: Since you both work as a team from conception to finish, what is the creative process like? How exactly does the collaboration work?
Paul: The pictures and words take shape simultaneously, each affecting the development of the other. Sometimes characters and creatures start with a picture, sometimes with a textual description. In addition, the plot is worked on constantly by both of us and, when they are around, our children! Similarly, the text is passed back and forth, being rewritten continuously, until both of us are happy with it.
Q: What has been the most challenging part of writing the series?
Paul: The whole process is challenging. More importantly, though, it is also rewarding. Both of us have immense fun playing with the Edge world. Beyond the Deepwoods was the simplest book, an episodic rite of passage novel where we, as well as the main protagonist, began to explore this new world. As we have gone deeper into it, the world has become richer and richer, and the storylines similarly, more involved. We are fascinated by the way the world is still developing as we learn more and more about its history and explore all areas of the political and natural world in increasing depth.
Q: When did you first begin writing/drawing?
Chris: At five years old in the back pew of my father's church. My mother gave me paper and pens to keep me quiet during Dad's (very interesting) sermons.
Paul: From the moment I could write, I have been writing down stories. At seven, I was working on a series of stories about a snail called Oliver. At ten, I attempted to write a follow-up to The Phantom Tollbooth with ideas that took shape over the next 20 years and finally became a book entitled The Thought Domain.
Q: In Midnight Over Sanctaphrax, Twig deals with the loss of two father figures. How is this important for his development?
Paul: Twig has to grow up and assume responsibility for his father's crew and, when he learns of Tuntum's death, he realizes how he has grown and matured since he left the Woodtroll village. He hopes that Tuntum would be proud of him, and what he has achieved.
Q: What scene did you have the most fun creating?
Chris: Both of us enjoyed the wig-wig arena scene a lot. The whole Shryke slave market, with its platforms and walkways all hanging from the Deepwoods trees, was great fun to create as a home for the flightless Shrykes. The escape from it on Prowlgrinback was also great fun both to write and draw.
Paul: Midnight over Sanctaphrax was the third in the series, and the book where we were beginning to reap the rewards both of close collaboration and of getting to know the world more deeply. The Prowlgrins (which I had originally described as being like hyena/leopard-like creatures, but which Chris had drawn as a curious cross between a whale and a toad) looked to me as if they were brilliantly designed for leaping from branch to branch. Therefore the pictures in Book 1 directly influenced the plot in Book 3. Similarly, in book 1, I had wanted a pirate-like punishment similar to keelhauling, and had come up with sky-firing. In Midnight over Sanctaphrax, this throwaway idea becomes pivotal to the plot- but we won't give it away just in case you haven't read the book yet!
Q: The Edge Chronicles seems perfectly suited for film, with its fast-paced action, loveable creatures, and incredible comic-timing. Were you thinking along these lines during its inception?
Paul: We did not deliberately set out to produce fiction which could be turned into a film. That said, both of us work in a very visual way, so a lot of the plotting, characterization and scene development is quite cinematic. It would be a great thrill to see The Edge Chronicles realized on the big screen!
Talking to Paul Stewart & Chris Riddell about the Edge Chronicles
Q. What was your inspiration for The Edge Chronicles?
Paul: The Edge Chronicles started off with the map. Chris drew it and gave it to me saying, 'here is the world, tell me what happens there.'
Chris: I drew a map that looked like the edge of a map because I've always been fascinated by the edges of maps - the place where the known world ends.
Paul: My main inspiration for the Deepwoods was perhaps the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm, though other books-Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, Gormenghast, Gulliver's Travels- also played their part.
Q: What was your favorite character(s) to create?
Chris: My favorite character is the spindlebug. It was easy for Paul to write that it was see-through, like glass, but a challenge for an illustrator to draw. The creatures live an immense amount of time-up to four centuries -which means that they witness a lot more history of the Edge than other characters.
Paul: My favorite characters are the banderbears. Chris drew them first as fierce, pyramid-like bear creatures. Because they looked so ferocious, I made their character more timid. We have enjoyed developing the creatures as the series has progressed, learning about their natural habits and habitat and creating a language all of their own.
Q: Where did you come up with the names for your characters? The various personalities and life stories?
Paul: Both of us hate the clichéd fantasy names and tried to make the names in the Edge world a little different. Woodtrolls have woody names, like Snatchwood, Gruffbark, Snetterbark. Slaughterers have 'meaty' names like Gristle, Sinew, Tendon and Brisket. The academics have Latin/Basque names with lots of ius's and x's. Cowlquape, who goes through lots of changes, has a name taken from the German for tadpole - Kaulquappe. While Twig, of course, is just a tiny bit of the forest.
As the series has progressed, with prequels and sequels, the life histories of the various characters have become more deeply described. So Twig's mother, Maris, is only mentioned in Beyond the Deepwoods. In book 4, the Curse of the Gloamglozer, we meet her as a girl. And in the book we have just completed, Book 7 - Freeglader - we learn all about what happened to her after she abandoned her baby in the Deepwoods. The continuity revealed as the story unfolds is deeply satisfying.
Q: What was your favorite book as a child?
Chris: Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown
Paul: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster
Q: Since you both work as a team from conception to finish, what is the creative process like? How exactly does the collaboration work?
Paul: The pictures and words take shape simultaneously, each affecting the development of the other. Sometimes characters and creatures start with a picture, sometimes with a textual description. In addition, the plot is worked on constantly by both of us and, when they are around, our children! Similarly, the text is passed back and forth, being rewritten continuously, until both of us are happy with it.
Q: What has been the most challenging part of writing the series?
Paul: The whole process is challenging. More importantly, though, it is also rewarding. Both of us have immense fun playing with the Edge world. Beyond the Deepwoods was the simplest book, an episodic rite of passage novel where we, as well as the main protagonist, began to explore this new world. As we have gone deeper into it, the world has become richer and richer, and the storylines similarly, more involved. We are fascinated by the way the world is still developing as we learn more and more about its history and explore all areas of the political and natural world in increasing depth.
Q: When did you first begin writing/drawing?
Chris: At five years old in the back pew of my father's church. My mother gave me paper and pens to keep me quiet during Dad's (very interesting) sermons.
Paul: From the moment I could write, I have been writing down stories. At seven, I was working on a series of stories about a snail called Oliver. At ten, I attempted to write a follow-up to The Phantom Tollbooth with ideas that took shape over the next 20 years and finally became a book entitled The Thought Domain.
Q: In Midnight Over Sanctaphrax, Twig deals with the loss of two father figures. How is this important for his development?
Paul: Twig has to grow up and assume responsibility for his father's crew and, when he learns of Tuntum's death, he realizes how he has grown and matured since he left the Woodtroll village. He hopes that Tuntum would be proud of him, and what he has achieved.
Q: What scene did you have the most fun creating?
Chris: Both of us enjoyed the wig-wig arena scene a lot. The whole Shryke slave market, with its platforms and walkways all hanging from the Deepwoods trees, was great fun to create as a home for the flightless Shrykes. The escape from it on Prowlgrinback was also great fun both to write and draw.
Paul: Midnight over Sanctaphrax was the third in the series, and the book where we were beginning to reap the rewards both of close collaboration and of getting to know the world more deeply. The Prowlgrins (which I had originally described as being like hyena/leopard-like creatures, but which Chris had drawn as a curious cross between a whale and a toad) looked to me as if they were brilliantly designed for leaping from branch to branch. Therefore the pictures in Book 1 directly influenced the plot in Book 3. Similarly, in book 1, I had wanted a pirate-like punishment similar to keelhauling, and had come up with sky-firing. In Midnight over Sanctaphrax, this throwaway idea becomes pivotal to the plot- but we won't give it away just in case you haven't read the book yet!
Q: The Edge Chronicles seems perfectly suited for film, with its fast-paced action, loveable creatures, and incredible comic-timing. Were you thinking along these lines during its inception?
Paul: We did not deliberately set out to produce fiction which could be turned into a film. That said, both of us work in a very visual way, so a lot of the plotting, characterization and scene development is quite cinematic. It would be a great thrill to see The Edge Chronicles realized on the big screen!
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Friendship is stronger than Winter,
By
This review is from: A Little Bit of Winter (Hardcover)
Rabbit and Hedgehog are two close friends (one is put in mind of Toot & Puddle or Bert & Ernie) with one not-so-small problem: Hedgehog hibernates the winter through and Rabbit does not. Rabbit is concerned that Hedgehog will not miss or remember him during the long winter. Hedgehog plainly states that he won't miss Rabbit because he'll be sleeping. While Rabbit says he'll miss his friend, Hedgehog is bothered by the fact that he doesn't know what winter IS-he sleeps through it! Hedgehog asks Rabbit to "save a bit of winter for me" and writes a note on the bark of a tree to help Rabbit remember. Problems arise when winter hits and Rabbit, who usually eats pink clover and green grass is reduced to eating brown things--including bark off trees with MESSAGES written on them! Well, fortunately, while Rabbit may be scatterbrained, he remembers what Hedgehog wanted him to save, and manages, with a bit of forest ingenuity, to save some winter for his sleeping friend. "A Little Bit of Winter" is a testament to friendship. The precise illustrations and depth of expression make the characters feel so very REAL, to children as well as adults. One can simply FEEL Rabbit's sadness and frustration at having to eat brown stuff, dig through mountains of snow AND be lonely on top of everything else. The joy both Hedgehog and Rabbit feel when spring comes and they get to be together again is infectious and radiant. An excellent book, highly recommended. Even if you DON'T have children to give the book to, buy it and give it to YOURSELF.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful tale about the true sense of friendship,
By A Customer
This review is from: A Little Bit of Winter (Hardcover)
This book is a pure miracle ! I've read it in french. (Amazing ! For one time, the french translation is released before the english edition!) I bought the book as a gift for a four-years-old girl but after I read it with her I went back to the bookstore to buy my own copy. The text is simple and speaks to both heart and soul. I had never read such a good and masterful description of friendship. And what a gifted illustrator Chris Riddell is ! Last but surely not least : you don't need to be a child to appreciate the tale, I testify and I swear !
5.0 out of 5 stars
What is winter?,
This review is from: A Little Bit of Winter (Paperback)
A cute, simple, story about a hedgehog and a rabbit. The hedgehog must hibernate for winter and wants the rabbit to "save him a little bit of winter" for when he wakes up.So, what exactly is winter? How will Rabbit save some? And will Rabbit even remember? Accompanied by adorable illustrations, this is a cute story about what winter is like, and also how special friends are.
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