RESCUE TALE SALUTES SPIRIT OF FORT MAC
Gerbil’s wildfire escape inspires children’s book of how goodness can come from difficult circumstances, writes Liane Faulder.
Saving Thunder the Great: The true story of a gerbil’s rescue from the Fort McMurray wildfire
Leanne Shirtliffe, Illustrations by Georgia Graham Boulder Publications Clutching Thunder the Great’s cage as she fled the wildfire, Julie Lodge could not have predicted an inspirational children’s book would emerge from the ashes of Fort McMurray.
But Saving Thunder the Great: The true story of a gerbil’s rescue from the Fort McMurray wildfire, is proving goodness can come from the most difficult circumstances.
The book is written by Calgary’s Leanne Shirtliffe, a teacher and children’s author, and illustrated by Georgia Graham of Lacombe. The two were contacted by Newfoundland publisher Gavin Will of Boulder Publications after he heard Julie Lodge interviewed on the radio about her harrowing evacuation experience.
Shirtliffe, Graham and Lodge all got together in Lacombe, to talk about the project. Shirtcliffe says it was clear to her from the start that this story would be meaningful not just to people who has escaped the wildfire.
“There was a universal sense,” says Shirtliffe, the author of four children’s books. “From what parents are willing to do for their children, to how a neighbourhood will come together in a time of crisis. Those are part of the Fort McMurray spirit, but it also goes beyond Fort Mac.”
Saving Thunder the Great starts with Mamma (the character inspired by Lodge), who is working for a Fort McMurray inspection company. As the tale unfolds, Mamma’s son, Jackson (named for Lodge’s real-life son) is staying with his grandparents in Newfoundland while his mother works a particularly long and hard contract. But Mamma still has the family gerbil with her, named Thunder the Great. The pet is a reminder that the family will be all together again soon.
One afternoon after working an overnight shift, Mamma is awoken by her roommate to discover that The Beast (as locals called the fire) had swollen to dangerous proportions. The city was being evacuated. Mamma knew she couldn’t leave the pet behind, and so began the duo’s harrowing journey.
Though much of the tale is true, details of the narrative have been altered for literary purposes. The book is geared toward five- to nine-year-olds.
“As an author, I do want kids to be entertained, but I also, in this story, want them to know their voices matter,” Shirtliffe says.
“In a natural disaster, kids’ voices aren’t intentionally silenced, but missing. And although the main character isn’t a child, what she does is for her child.
“The quest to get the gerbil out, a beloved pet, is instantly recognizable in the emotional language that children speak.”
The book came together in just a few months and has launched to enormous enthusiasm in Fort McMurray. A second print run has been produced already. Boulder Publications has donated a copy to each school library in Fort McMurray and part of the sales are going to the SPCA. The book is available at Chapters/ Indigo.
Lodge says she thought the idea was a “bit of a joke” when the publisher first approached her. She says Jackson, who was 11 at the time of the fire, has been a little overwhelmed by the attention, but “still proud of the whole thing.” Thunder, who was four when the fire erupted, died this summer.
“It never crossed my mind not to bring (Thunder),” says Lodge of her escape.
She tried to get the gerbil on a plane, but was denied. “They suggested I leave him and that under the circumstances someone would adopt him. I said to them, ‘You don’t know my son.’ No. Your pets are part of the family. You make the commitment to care for them when you get them.”
Instead, she drove out of the city.
“I hope it helps children open up the dialogue to discuss their feelings and their personal experience,” says Lodge. “And I hope it gives the adult readers an appreciation for Fort McMurray. It’s not just a work town. It’s a town full of families, same as any other town.”
Edmonton chartered accountant and first-time author Wendy Tugwood has just released a new children’s book called I Love You Too, I Love You Three. It’s a touching tale that explores the parting ritual that is an important part of a child’s bedtime routine.
Playfully illustrated by Sheila McGraw (who did the pictures for the bestselling Love You Forever by Robert Munsch), the Firefly publication is available at bookstores and online or through fireflybooks.com. lfaulder@postmedia.com Twitter: @eatmywordsblog.
I hope it helps children ... discuss their feelings and their personal experience. And I hope it gives the adult readers an appreciation for Fort McMurray. It’s not just a work town. It’s a town full of families, same as any other town. Julie Lodge