The Love Letter

Reading the above mentioned letter, which is an anonymous declaration of love, lightens Hedgehog’s mood and leads to a day of unusually cheerful interaction with forest friends Bunny and Squirrel.

In subsequent episodes, Bunny and Squirrel find the same letter (oops, did it slip from Hedgehog’s backpack? Had it fallen unnoticed out of Bunny’s apron?), and each, in turn, believes that the letter is uniquely for the finder and that one of the others is announcing his or her love.

It proves to be not so easy to express feelings of affection when they meet again face to face.

The letter that had made Hedgehog cheerful and
Bunny helpful and Squirrel carefree suddenly made them all…shy.

When the trio tries to uncover the source of the letter, tempers rise and a round of bickering and snatching for the paper begins. A fourth creature enters the picture. It is Mouse, who admits to being the author of the letter, which had been intended for the Moon.

"Why does Moon need a love letter?” asked Hedgehog.
“Because I am a small mouse in a dark forest and the
Moon is a very good friend. Don’t you have a very good friend?”

Mouse encourages the others to think about their individual reactions to the discovery of the letter. They had all behaved better because of it, and, of course, they now know they are very good friends! A group hug wraps it all up.

The author’s message is obvious without being pushy, and her use of language shows that the choice of just the right words (“Bunny busied herself with a nap”; “Bunny should be less of a busy-bunny”, Squirrel sighed) makes for picture book poetry.

Brooklyn artist Lucy Ruth Cummins has contributed illustrations in a mixture of media, including the use of an “old-timey typewriter” for the all-important letter. The wintry, woodsy landscape is described effectively with a minimal number of strokes, and the four forest animals have their own distinct huggable characters (yes, even Hedgehog seems cuddly).

The Love Letter could be a part of a Valentine’s Day story program focusing on friendship in a library or classroom, but the appeal is not just a seasonal one. It would also be a satisfying adult-to-child read-aloud.