Whether you find a soaked message in the middle of the road or a written note placed in an envelope and left inside your dry mailbox by the postman, there is still today, with all our advanced technology, a bit of magic attached to unexpected correspondence. There is usually a bit of an internal conversation taking place before the envelope is opened. Is this good news or not-so-good news? Will this letter change my day? The Love Letter (Harper, an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, October 8, 2019) written by Anika Aldamuy Denise with illustrations by Lucy Ruth Cummins is a charming combination of hopefulness, misunderstanding and truth in words and art.Hedgehog was late.
He did not like being late.
Hedgehog's mood was the opposite of cheerful at the point when he spied something out of the ordinary on the ground.
It was a letter.
Reading the words, Hedgehog realized it was a love letter. He believed someone loved him because the salutation read Friend. He took the letter with him, stashing it inside his backpack.
When Hedgehog arrived in the meadow, his mood was happier than normal. Everything he did with his friends, Bunny and Squirrel, was downright enjoyable. He was pleased to walk Bunny home. After she hugged him in thanks, she found something on the ground. It was that letter.
Bunny was jubilant. Hedgehog loved her! At home Bunny was more helpful than normal. When her chores were completed before and after dinner, she decided to visit Squirrel, bringing him a bundle of acorns. Guess what she dropped as she left? It was that letter.
Squirrel believing Bunny loved him was more carefree than normal. Nothing was going to change the way he was feeling. He slept long and hard until he raced to the meadow in the morning.
Each one of them, Hedgehog, Bunny and Squirrel, believed someone loved them. Two were certain they knew who it was. There were more than a few surprises at the meadow that day. Wise words act as a reminder and retie the threads of friendship.
You have to admit when Hedgehog first finds the letter and reads the words, you feel a bit excited for him. A new normal has popped into Hedgehog's day. This is how author Anika Aldamuy Denise immediately invites us into the story. When he voices his thoughts out loud, our heartrate picks up a little bit, too. This is why we understand the difference in how he relates to his friends during their daily meadow visit.
With the discovery of the letter by the other two characters, we fully comprehend their joy, but we also feel a tension growing. Who wrote this letter and for whom did they write it? For each of the characters, Anika Aldamuy Denise simply doesn't state they are more cheerful, helpful or carefree. She gives examples. This assists in elevating the gentle tension. An added bit of humor by Anika Aldamuy Denise is the exclamations made by Bunny and Squirrel when they believe they are loved. Here is a passage.
Down in the rabbit hole, Mama put her straight to work.
Normally Bunny pretended to nap at chore time, but today
she had a love letter and was feeling oddly . . . helpful.
Readers will find the limited color palette, introduced on the open dust jacket, will wrap around them like their favorite cozy clothing. Throughout the book black, white, brown, yellow, pink and hues of gray create pleasing portraits of the characters and their surroundings. The design on the jacket and inside the book is stunning. Careful readers will notice something very special about the framing of the woodland scene with Hedgehog on the front.
To the left, on the back, Bunny, Squirrel and Hedgehog have arrived at the meadow, all believing they are loved. They are bundled in their winter apparel and boots. None of them are making eye contact. The setting is more open expressing the shyness and vulnerability they feel.
On the book case it's night. The darker sky highlights the falling snow, a row of birch trees from the left edge to the right edge and the ground covered with snow. A full moon fashions shadows of the trees on the snow as it shines in the upper, left-hand corner. A trail of tiny footprints moves from the far left to the tiny creature making them on the right. It is our first hint.
The yellow used on the varnished title text on the front of the jacket covers the opening and closing endpapers. Before the title page, Lucy Ruth Cummins gives readers another clue on this first page. A typewriter with paper and envelopes is placed in the lower, right-hand corner. The size of the chair and a teeny teacup are another hint. With another page turn, the darker night lit only by the moon and glowing windows in a nearby home provide a place for the verso and dedication and title pages. The trees stand like silent sentinels. A third clue is seen in the other place with glowing light, the inside of a log. (This same log happens to appear in the first narrative page in the book.)
The images rendered using
Navah Wolfe's old-timey typewriter, gouache, brush marker, colored pencil, and ink wash before finishing the illustrations digitally for this book
by Lucy Ruth Cummins are double-page pictures, smaller illustrations placed on white space, full-page pictures and several smaller images grouped together on a single page. Every time the letter is read it's a close-up. Lucy Ruth Cummins's double-page picture of the three friends walking in the snow to the meadow is an outstanding layout. Her fine lines and delicate details further draw the reader into the story. The eyes on the characters leave no doubt as to their current mood.
One of my many, many favorite illustrations is a full-page picture. Even without the text, you know something in the story is changing. Several leafless trees stand near two large birches against a pale gray sky. Brown grass covers the lower half of the page. It is slighting rounded. Hedgehog, with his back to readers, is walking away between the two birch trees. Bunny is in the foreground bending down to pick up the dropped letter. (At this point in a read aloud, listeners will be gasping or crying out.) Her pint sweater, bluish gray backpack and shoes and yellow polka-dot skirt are a pleasing contrast to the meadow.
If there were a huggable category for books, The Love Letter written by Anika Aldamuy Denise with illustrations by Lucy Ruth Cummins, would find a place there. To believe you are loved is wonderful, to know it, is even better. This book inspires us to shine love whenever we can, wherever we go. I highly recommend a copy for your personal and professional book collections.
To read more about Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins and their other work, please follow the links attached to their names to access their respective websites. Anika Aldamuy Denise has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. Lucy Ruth Cummins has accounts on Instagram and Twitter. At the publisher's website you can view interior illustrations. I was honored to host the cover reveal for this book and was able to ask questions of Anika Aldamuy Denise and Lucy Ruth Cummins. You can read the full post here.
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