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Reflections of a Solitary Hamster by Astrid Desbordes

Title: Reflections of a Solitary Hamster

Author: Astrid Desbordes

Translator: Linda Burgess

Illustrator: Pauline Martin

Publisher: Gecko Press

Date Published: 2009

Format: Paperback

Genre: Other

Book Category: Picture Book

Age Range: 6-8

Original Title: First published in French as Les reveries d'un hampster solitaire, Albin Michel Jeunesse, France, 2008

Country of Origin: France

Reflections of a Solitary Hamster

by Astrid Desbordes
Age Range: 6-8

This graphic novel- written almost like a comic- features the musings of a hamster and his friends as they all overcome small personal problems. Greedy Hamster is planning a birthday party and is scheming to get as much food as possible out of friends, Hedgehog wants to be touched without hurting anyone with his prickles, Snail frets that she will never be on time to meet her friends and Mole worries about being short-sighted. Slowly, with some introspection and the help of each other, the animals start to find some solutions to their problems, but will everything come together in time for Hamster’s party?

The animal characters in this book are very endearing. Pauline Martin’s simply drawn animals look appealing and they all have problems that children will relate to such as the worry before a birthday party, or find funny; the lateness of the snail and Hedgehog’s desire for a cuddle. Yet, although the graphic novel illustrations fill in the gaps usually filled by narration, some children may struggle with the way strands of the story are picked up and dropped and then resumed after several pages – especially as some events really do not seem to blend into the story until the end. The story seems to be told through lots of anecdotes, which although they are funny and revealing about the animals, might not suit all children, some of whom may still fare better with a simple, linear story.

The story is also very humorous – but this may go over younger readers’ heads as it is very subtle in places and also quite dark. Hamster, for example, is greedy and vain. Although this is obvious, the extent of his greed and narcissism may not be evident to a child. The language in the story is also very formal in places, and some younger readers may find some of the longer words a struggle, although the translation picks up beautifully the subtlety behind Desbordes’s very simple creations – which express so much humour through their speech. Although in graphic novel and comic style the animals speak in speech bubbles, these are not one-line phrases, either. The animals often have fairly long sentences, which can be a lot for a smaller reader; especially when you consider that there may be several illustrations on one page, each with text, and in a book that could be considered rather long for the age group.

Abby Phillips (2017)

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