European
Picture 
Book
Collection

Country: Poland
Language: Polish
Title: JEZ (Hedghog)
Author: Katarzyna Kotowska
Publisher: Egmont (2002)
ISBN: 83 237-1723-0
Chosen by: Piotr Jankowski: Biblioteka Publiczna, Dzielnicy Warszawa – Ursus im. Wladyslawa Jana Grabskiego, Ul Plutonu Torpedy 47, 02-495 Warszawa, Poland.

Rationale for Choice:
This is a very sensitive picture book that reflects a universal multicultural theme; that of lack of confidence and the need for love, kindness and respect for being ‘different'. It provides readers with an emotive story and has the potential to help adults and children throughout Europe to think together.

Re-telling
A couple cannot have their own baby and their world is sad. So they decide to adopt a little boy. The problem is that the boy is very shy and covered in prickles like a hedgehog. The new parents are not afraid of him; they love him, touch him and hug him in spite of his prickles. This tenderness and care changes the little boys' way of thinking and, very slowly, his prickles begin to fall off!

Translation:

1. Once upon a time a Man and a Woman built their own house. Before they decided on its final position, they made sure that it had plenty of sky above it and a forest with lilies of the valley, blueberries and mushrooms nearby. They wanted to have a little stream with bushes for nightingales next to the house and a meadow full of flowers. They also needed shade in the rest of the garden so that old trees and weeds could grow there.

Everybody could play or run about in their garden and they didn't have to worry that things might be destroyed.

They took a great deal of effort to create a peaceful world in which it would be good to spend a happy childhood. However, they had had no children and they worried about this a great deal.

2. One day the Woman went out of her house and, to her surprise, she noticed that something was wrong with all the colours in this world.

Yellow was not sunny, red was not fiery, green was not mellow and blue was rather grey.

‘Look at what has happened, darling – she called to her husband.'

The Man told her not to worry too much, because the day was cloudy and tomorrow everything would be back to normal.

But the next day there were even fewer colours. Each day their world was becoming less and less colourful.

The Man and Woman didn't know what was happening and they could do nothing about it. Their world was losing its colours and they became very sad because they were missing the Child that they didn't have.

One spring day the Man and Woman realised that their world was completely grey and sad because their Child had been born into another family.

The Woman started crying and her whole face was very wet. Then the Man started crying but nobody saw his tears because only his soul was crying.

3. Finally the Man said:

‘Although we have not given birth to our Child, we must find it!'

They had heard that, if any parents gave birth to an unfamiliar child, they gave it to an orphanage where was brought up. So its real parents could find it there.

The Man and Woman did not know how to find such a place, so they went to the LadyWho Knows.

‘Help us to find our Child, please! We don't know, where to look for it!'The Lady Who Knows looked at them carefully and said:

‘Perhaps I can help. Many people come to me and ask for help. You have to convince me that you are worth helping.'

After that the Man and Woman often visited this Lady .

In spring she asked them a question:

‘Why do you want to have a child? What for? You will only have trouble with it.' ‘We have nobody to love and care for – they answered.'

4. In summer she asked them: ‘Do you want to have a child of your own? Is it OK if I lend you one for a little while?'

‘The child can be nobody's property – they answered.' In autumn she told them:

‘You are too poor to have a child. What can you give it?'

‘We can give it our love, the truth and freedom – they answered.'

When winter came, the Woman said: ‘We have been waiting for such a long time. We can wait longer, but our child is little aand it can't wait any longer because it needs us!'

‘Yes, you are right. I see that I can help you now. Go to the Queen of the Children's House – and the Lady Who Knows explained to them how to get there.'

5. The Woman and the Man went to the Children's House. The House was old and grey , hidden behind a grey wall and did not look very nice. Inside the House there were several huge rooms, much too big for children. Inside the rooms there were small beds and small tables with low chairs. And there were a lot of colourful toys everywhere. And there were a lot of small children everywhere.

Although the Queen and her servants were taking good care of them – all the children were sad, because they did not have their parents.

6. The Queen was very wise and she loved children very much. Although she was always sad when they left, she was very happy that the children were going to their real parents.

Giving a warm welcome to the Woman and the Man, the Queen smiled and said:

‘I am very happy that you have come here. I have been waiting for you. There is a small boy here who is two years old. It is possible that he is your son.'

‘We have never seen him and he has never seen us. How can we recognize him? WWon't we make a mistake?' - the Woman and the Man worried a lot about this.

‘Don't worry' said the Queen ‘Don't look for him with your eyes, because they can't see everything. Look for him with your hearts - your hearts will not make a mistake.'

7. When the Boy was brought to them, the Woman and the Man were astonished and scared because the blue eyed Boy's body was covered in prickles like a hedgehog. They thought that there must be some mistake – he couldn't be their son, they couldn't have had a hedgehog-son.

8. But when the Boy came closer, the Woman reached out her hand for him and he caught her finger. And the Woman understood that she couldn't reject him.

The Woman and the Man visited the Hedgehog-Boy every day; they played with him and tried to tame him. On the seventh evening, when the Woman had to leave, the Hedgehog-Boy started crying and nobody could calm him down. The Woman hugged him and he stopped crying and fell asleep. This meant, that it was time to take the Boy home.

9. At home the Boy was told:

‘Your name is Peter and we are your Mum and Dad.'

The Woman and the Man were not sure that they were his real parents, but they knew that the Hedgehog-Boy was alone. They knew that every child had to have his mum and dad. When they told the Boy this, colour slowly came back into their garden and they started whispering:

‘We will stay here forever. It must be bright and beautiful for the Boy!'

The only person who recognized the Boy was his Grandma:

‘Of course he is my Grandson! ‘ - she said

‘How do you know ? - the Woman asked - Are you sure?'

‘Of course! I love him – the Grandma answered.'

10. In the beginning, it was very difficult for all of them. The Hedgehog-Boy was in a new world and he needed time to feel safe. He couldn't speak and the Woman and the Man did not always understand what he wanted. They were not sure that they were taking care of Peter in the right way. They had never met a hedgehog-boy before and they didn't know what to give him to eat or how to wash him. They worried if he was cold and they had no idea what to play with him. It was also difficult to hug or stroke him because the Hedgehog-Boy was not used to it and he was very prickly.

The Man told the Woman:

‘You should be more careful! You are covered in scratches from the prickles!'

‘That's nothing! They will heal up! - she answered - All children need to be hugged. You see, he likes it! Look! His prickles have become a bit softer!'

11. In January, the Hedgehog-Boy was still afraid of speaking, he didn't want to go out of the house and he often cried. In February, he stopped being afraid of the cats, he learned lots of words and he started to get to know his new surroundings. But he did not want to sleep alone and, before falling asleep, he realized that he felt like a fish out of water. In March, he became more confident and he often smiled. The Woman was brave enough to say to him:

‘My Son!'

And, to her surprise, she noticed that a few prickles had fallen off.

12. When spring came, the Father taught Peter how to ride a bike. Peter snuggled up to them and did not let them go away.

‘These prickles have really confused us! We love him, he is our Son!' - the Mother and the Father said.

‘And he is the most beautiful boy in the world' - the Mother added.

The next day more prickles fell off.

13. When Summer came, the Son played in water and mud. He was delighted with it. But at night he still woke up screaming and, when the Mother tried to calm him down, he rejected her and his prickles rose. Fortunately there were fewer and fewer prickles now.

14. In Autumn, they collected mushrooms together. Peter played with a rowan tree and conkers . The Mother had to hold his hand at the night.

One day the Boy asked:

‘Whose stomach was I in?'

‘Not in mine' - the Mother answered - ‘You had different mother then. Fortunately, you are with us now.'

‘Were you crying when I was far away?'

‘Of course, I was. I was crying a lot and your Father was crying, too. But we are happy now because you are with us.'

On that day, a few more few prickles fell off.

15. When Winter came, they were sitting in front of the fireplace. There was snow and sledging and Christmas. One day the Mother made a cake and said:

‘Today, we celebrate our anniversary. It's been a year, since we've been together.'

Before falling asleep Peter said:

‘I was living in a big, grey house before but I was afraid of living there. The ladies were very nice, but they were the strangers to me.'

‘You are with us now' - the Mother said, and gave him a big hug.

16. Finally it was warmer and the birds started singing to announce the Spring.

‘Mum, did you think that you could give birth to me?' - Peter asked.

Yes, I did. But I couldn't manage it. Fortunately, another mother gave birth to you and, thanks to her, we can be together. We love you very much, my Son' - the Mother answered.

At night Peter woke up, but he did not cry as usual. He only called:

‘Mum!'

It was the first time that he called out “Mum!” at night. And there were no more prickles on his body.

17. Nobody knows what will happen in the future. Many years will pass and a small Peter will become a big Peter. One day he will go for a walk with his parents and, when they go to the meadow, he will stretch his arms, wave them like wings and soar into the sky. He will wave to them from a distance and fly away. And they will look at him and become sad that he is flying away. But they will understand that this must happen.

‘Fly away, our Son! It's good that you are not afraid of flying!'

(Translated for educational purposes by: Malgorzata Kolodziejczy)

Activities for use in school:

1. Read JEZ ‘visually' with your children in the following way:

Look at the front page of the book and discuss:

•  What do you think that little boy is called? (Often the name of characters is on the title page)

•  What makes you think this?

•  Is there anything special about him?

If they do not read Polish, they need to know that JEZ means hedgehog:

•  Why do you think that the book is called Hedgehog?

•  Is there anything that gives you a clue on the title page?

If not, turn over to the page that shows a conker which is prickly on the outside… but soft and shiny on the inside:

•  Might this have anything to do with the little boy?

•  What do think the story might be about?

2. Now begin to focus on the colours that the illustrator uses to tell the story:

•  (page 1) Who do you think lives in this house?

•  Are they happy or sad?

•  What makes you think this?

•  (pages 3-7) Why has the illustrator taken the colour away? What do you think is happening to the people in the house?

•  (page 9) What do you think is missing in their lives?

•  (page 11) Why do you think that there is a large white space between you (the reader) and the faceless nurse with the little boy, Piotr? What do you think that the little boy, Piotr, is feeling?

•  (page 13) How do you think he and his prospective mother are feeling?

•  (page 15) What is the significance of the 3 coloured boots?

•  (page 17) How might the parents be feeling now? Do they mind that Piotr has prickles?

•  (page 19) Why do you think that this page has more colour?

•  (page 21) How do the colours on this page help you to know how Piotr and his dad feel? What is the season?

•  (page 23) What is beginning to happen to little Piotr in this Summer scene? Why do you think this is?

•  (page 25) Look carefully at Piotr now. Has he changed very much? In this Autumn scene he really does seem to be part of the family. What helps you to realise this? Can you see any prickes in the 3 shadows?

•  (page 27) Winter and his prickles have almost disappeared… and his shadow?

•  (page 29) Why do you think that the illustrator has now moved to a springtime scene with a mother bird helping her young one to fly?

•  (page 31) … and the final page of the story to show a beautiful bird (rather like the ugly duckling that turned into a beautiful swan) flying off to join all the others?

3. Ask the children in pairs to make a storyboard (with 6-8 pictures) telling the tale of JEZ in their own pictures. (This can either be done on sheets of paper or on overhead transparencies that can be shown to the class.)

  They can then, depending on their ages, write a sentence under each picture to tell the story in their own words.

After this, they can share their stories with another pair/the class.

Now read the translation as the children look at the pictures again. Are there any differences between their stories and the original?

4. In English, if someone is prickly, it means that they are difficult to be near and can get upset very easily.
Is there an expression in your language that means something similar?

Investigate other languages, too.

Reflection:

Discuss:

•      the importance of love and friendship

•      the need for patience, tolerance and understanding    
      towards people who are different from us
•      the need to integrate them into our society

•      human emotions, particularly those of children, are universal and not limited by cultural boundaries.

NB Further literature and language-based activities can be found in
Picture Books sans Frontières available from tb@trentham-books.co.uk
or www.amazon.co.uk