December 4, 2007

Dear Avi,

My mom has read me many of your books. Ereth’s Birthday is the first one I have read all by myself. It is my favorite book because it gives me a different perspective of forest animals. Most people might say that porcupines are simple creatures. After reading Ereth’s Birthday, I think porcupines are more interesting because many of the things Ereth does, I do myself.

Ereth reminds me of myself because he doesn’t like change. When I leave my house to go somewhere I usually don’t want to go. But when I get there, I find that I have so much fun that I want to stay longer.

Ereth is a very thoughtful porcupine, he just does not like to show it. I am like that when my grandmother asks me to give her a hug. I usually try to run away and hide even though I really love her.

Like Ereth, sometimes I find it hard to make new friends. When I see a person for the first time, I often think that I could never be their friend. When I get to know them better, however, sometimes my opinion of them changes.

Ereth insults most people. He gets angry easily because he doesn’t know what to say. Sometimes when I get very mad, I get angry at everyone because I feel like everyone hates me and doesn’t like me. After a while, I realize that this isn’t really true. Then I get very very happy again.

Ereth’s obsession with salt helped me understand that it is ok to be obsessed with something, just don’t die for it. My obsession is fishing. I would do it every day if I could. But as much as Ereth loves salt, if he ate too much salt, he might not want to eat salt any more. Fishing every day would make me tired of fishing. So I must not fish too much or I might never want to fish again.

Reading Ereth’s Birthday makes me think about all the things Ereth and I have in common. Laughing at Ereth’s mistakes helps me accept my own mistakes. Thank you for writing this book.

Sincerely,

Garrett Rutherford

4th Grade
Interior Distance Education of Alaska (IDEA), Girdwood, Alaska
Teacher:  Leola Rutherford