Tokyo American Club iNTOUCH magazine; September 2014

Sleek-Furred Sleuth

12 September 2014 iNTOUCH

Irwin Wong

(l–r) Andy Boerger and Hugh Ashton

LIBRARY

Illustrations by Andrew Boerger

Set to speak at the Club this month, author Hugh Ashton and illustrator Andy Boerger explain how they combined their passions to create an intriguing children’s series of books.

by Megan Waters

L

et me tell you a story about my friend and me. My friend’s name is Sherlock, and he’s a ferret. You’ve heard people talking about ‘ferreting about’, looking for things, finding things out? Well that’s what Sherlock Ferret does—he’s a detective.”

So begins Sherlock Ferret and the Missing Necklace, the first in a series of mystery books for children by author Hugh Ashton and illustrator Andy Boerger.

Ashton is better known for his numerous Sherlock Holmes tales, painstakingly written in the same style as the original Holmes books by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. According to the British author, writing the Sherlock Ferret series—his first foray into children’s fiction—was “immensely satisfying.”

“It was very nice to be able to adopt my own writing style for a change,” says Ashton, who first came to Japan in 1988 to work as a technical writer.

Ashton’s fascination with the fictional detective emerged after he received a book of Holmes tales as a child. “I really like the characters, language and mysteries,” he says. “My interest in the stories was rekindled by [British actor Benedict] Cumberbatch’s version of Sherlock in the BBC-PBS television series.”

Ashton admits it was a challenge to write a children’s book since he’s not a father himself. But working with his editor, who gave “a lot of constructive criticism,” as well as with Boerger, he published the first two books in just a few months.

“Working with [Boerger] and his illustrations was one of the joys of working on the book. He came up with a lot of the drawings and ideas for the plot as we were creating it,” explains Ashton.

“I have loved drawing ferrets—and furry animals in general— for a while. So it is quite easy for me to create scenes with animals.” says Boerger, an American who has called Japan home for the past 20 years.

Boerger, a ferret fanatic, established illustrator and author of numerous bestselling books for Japanese students of English, started chatting with Ashton on the social networking site Facebook. “I saw [Boerger’s] work online and said to him, ‘Sherlock would make a great ferret.’ So he drew a picture of Sherlock as a ferret playing the violin, and that’s how the book got started,” Ashton says.

Working via e-mail and Facebook, the pair, wary of not reinforcing

stereotypes, came up with a series of colorful characters with distinct personalities, including Watson Mouse MD, a doctor of mousology, tea-drinking rhinoceros Inspector Lestrade, well-known artist Pablo Pigasso and the villainous Colonel Sebastian Moorhen.

Ashton and Boerger, together with Vinnie, Boerger’s pet ferret who helped inspire the series, will be at the Club this month to talk about their “people in furry skins.”

Although Ashton believes 7- to 11-year-olds should be able to read the books themselves, he says the stories are suitable for reading to younger kids. “I have used lots of humor and relatively simple language throughout the books, but they are educational in language,” he says. To do this, new words are introduced and explained within the dialogue. According to Ashton, parents will enjoy the entertaining books’ playful language as well.

While created for children, the original plots follow the formula used in Conan Doyle’s books. “Sherlock Ferret uses pieces of deduction to solve the crime while Watson is really a foil,” Ashton says. “I have even included some classic Sherlock Holmes quotations. These are real little mystery stories, and I want the child to guess what is going to happen.”

The pair intentionally chose not to feature violent crimes in the stories. “Through topics such as theft, loss, art fraud and greed, we are trying to get some sort of moral message across to the children, without preaching to them,” Ashton says. “The characters are very worthwhile and lovable little beasts. They are loyal, brave and moral, and the villains are fun.”

Currently sold only online, Ashton hopes one day to see Sherlock Ferret sharing bookstore shelves with other timeless kids’ tales. “I really believe this book has the potential to become a classic children’s book,” he says, “such as Alice in Wonderland and The Wind in the Willows.” o Waters is a Tokyo-based freelance journalist.

Sherlock Ferret website http://sherlockferret.info

Meet the Author: Hugh Ashton and Andy Boerger Saturday, September 13 10:30–11:30 a.m.

Beate Sirota Gordon Classroom ¥1,000 (includes one drink) For ages 5 to 13 and parents Sign up online or at the Library

Literary gems at the Library 13