The Love Letter

“Friend,/ You are a joy, a light,/ a secret hope..../ Don’t you know/ I love you?” So reads the letter Hedgehog finds on the ground one grouchy day. “My word,” he says, brightening. “Someone loves me.” Feeling suddenly cheerful, he doesn’t fuss about things that usually irritate him. In three intimate vignettes, Cummins (Truman) shows him losing gracefully, sharing his lunch, and walking his friend Bunny home. Then Hedgehog drops the letter, and Bunny finds it. She’s delighted that Hedgehog loves her; another trio of vignettes shows her stepping up to chores she normally avoids. When she drops the letter and anxious Squirrel finds it, he feels “oddly... carefree,” and more vignettes show his relaxed reactions. As the friends gather and the letter’s recipient is revealed to be a fourth entity, the missive’s author helps them see that friends who love each other are lucky, indeed. Cummins places the story in early winter, tinting the spreads with blue, rose, and yellow, and dressing the characters in cozy clothing. Denise (Planting Stories) uses the parallel sequences to demonstrate how seemingly immutable personalities can be transformed by the power of love. Ages 4–8. [em]Agent: Emily van Beek, Folio Literary Management. (Oct.) [/em]