It all started a few months ago, when I was reading a very interesting blog post about hedgehogs. Long story short. Apparently, we Americans, have had it all wrong when it comes to weather predicting animals. In ancient Rome, the hedgehog was actually the reigning super weather predictor. And when immigrants settled in the Americas, they replaced these spiney, little meteorologists with the most hedgehog-looking creature that they could find in America, the local groundhog.
So all these years, we've been consulting the wrong animal for weather advice.
Well, to be honest, I thought that this historical fact was hilarious, and too great to pass up. So lately, I've been working on a little story involving the two, groundhogs and hedgehogs. And in the end, a very rough draft of 'Happy Hedgehog Day' was born.
'Happy Hedgehog Day' is a funny picturebook manuscript about a groundhog that's afraid of her own shadow(quite literally), and crotchity old hedgehog who comes to the rescue. So stay tuned for details about that:)
And in the meantime, check out the article for yourself. You may just find the article amusing, too.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/blog-post/2011/02/groundhog_day_2011_is_punxsuta.html