The Hare-Shaped Hole

Learning about loss

Sometimes an idea hits you so powerfully that you have to drop everything else and get it down. That’s how it was with the concept that became The Hare-Shaped Hole, my new book that has been beautifully and sensitively illustrated by Thomas Docherty, published by Quarto on March 9th.

Like many of the best ideas, it was simple: the loss of a loved one is often described as leaving a hole in someone’s life. What if that hole was actual rather than metaphorical - a real, visible, constant emptiness in the world?

I’d been listening to a reading of a rhyming picture-book when the idea occurred to me, and the comforting rhythm of the verses felt like the perfect form in which to address such a difficult and complicated subject for young readers. Soon, the story began to take shape in my head: the story of Bertle the Turtle and Hertle the Hare, best friends until the end… This is an end that comes suddenly, leaving Bertle desperate to find a way to get rid of the emptiness left behind when

Hertle disappears.

But, as Gerda - the kindly bear who arrives to comfort Bertletells him, “There’s no getting rid of this hole in the air. If you take away nothing, well, nothing’s still there.” Instead, Bertle must find a way to live with the hole in his life - which, with Gerda’s help, he does.

It didn’t occur to me until I saw my family’s reactions to the first draft that I might have written something quite significant. But children are not exempt from loss: as a child, I experienced the death of grandparents and of a beloved pet. As a teacher, I once covered a class who had just suffered the unexpected death of a classmate. Twice before the age of seven, my daughter lost best friends when their families moved abroad. And, of course, family break-up brings its own kind of loss to many children.

In my nearly-twenty year career as a writer, I’ve concentrated on making children laugh and teaching them that reading is fun. I believe that’s important. But the silence and concentration when I read The Hare-Shaped Hole to children, and the earnest and thoughtful questions they ask afterwards, make me wonder if this might be the most important book I’ll ever write.

JOHN DOUGHERTY Author of The Hare-Shaped Hole

www.visitingauthor.com

TURN TO PAGE 51 to read about seeking help with the Samaritans