The Snurtch

by Sean Ferrell, Charles Santoso (Illustrator)

Overview

Some days are Snurtch days. Ruthie is having one of those.

Ruthie has a problem at school.

It is not the students. It is not the classroom. It is not the reading or the writing or the math. It is something scribbly, scrunchy, grabby, burpy, and rude. It is the Snurtch.

From the team behind I Don’t Like Koala, this clever picture book takes a discerning look at the challenges of behaving and controlling your emotions—especially when your own personal monster keeps getting in the way.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481456562
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	08/30/2016
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,070,266
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 9.60(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Sean Ferrell is the author of two novels for adults, Numb and Man in the Empty Suit. He has since grown up and started writing for children, too. His picture book I Don’t Like Koala was published by Atheneum in 2015, and The Snurtch, also from Atheneum, was published in 2016. He lives and works, in no particular order, in Brooklyn. Visit Sean online at SeanFerrell.com.

Charles Santoso loves drawing little things in his little journal. He gathers inspiration from his childhood memories and curiosities he discovers in his everyday travels. He has illustrated several picture books, including The Snurtch, I Don’t Like Koala, Finding Muchness, and Ida, Always. Charles also works as a visual development artist, creating illustrations for feature film projects. He lives and works in Sydney, Australia. You can visit him at CharlesSantoso.com.

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/23/2016
Everyone has his or her demons. Ruthie’s is called the Snurtch, and he’s orange, scrawly like a crayon drawing, and resembles a cross between a lion, raccoon, and dinosaur. “The Snurtch is grabby and burpy and rude,” writes Ferrell, who, along with Santoso, explored another less-than-healthy relationship in I Don’t Like Koala (2015). The Snurtch also has little respect for authority figures (“When Teacher calls on Ruthie, the Snurtch threw her pencils”), but after Ruthie shares a portrait of her nemesis in class, the exercise triggers an epiphany: yes, the Snurtch is part of her, but it doesn’t control her. The Snurtch isn’t vanquished (nobody’s perfect), but with Ruthie’s new sense of self, it becomes a little more empathic, which vastly improves her feelings toward school. It’s beautifully true to life, and Santoso’s quick-tempered heroine, with her eloquent grimaces and pigtails that festoon her head like architectural detailing, is fully deserving of readers’ sympathies. And as the final pages make clear, Ruthie is hardly alone in having an attitude that can get a little beastly. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Janet Reid, FinePrint Literary Management. Illustrator’s agent: Justin Rucker, Shannon Associates. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Ruthie resolutely marches into her classroom, pigtails in angry puffs, to find her old nemesis—the Snurtch—already seated at her desk.... The creators of I Don’t Like Koala (2015) here take on another childhood challenge with their signature quirkiness. Santoso’s hysterical illustrations expertly capture the children’s open expressions and the wild antics of the Snurtches....kids will identify with having a fidgety, mischievous monster inside."

July 2016 Booklist

"Ruthie, a wide-eyed, snub-nosed child with pigtail tufts that stick straight up, “has a problem at school.” And it’s a big one. Think imaginary friend meets Inside Out meets the old devil-made-me-do-it excuse, and voilà, you’ve got the Snurtch.... Portrayed with humor and empathy, Ruthie’s challenges with regulating emotions and behavior will provoke plenty of discussion—even among the youngest of listeners."

July/August 2016 The Horn Book

"Illustrated self portraits of Ruthie when she is feeling Snurtch-like give visual impact to the feelings elicited by the Snurtch.... The author skillfully and humorously describes the Snurtch's effect on the classroom, and explores a difficult problem that is experienced by many students who do not realize they are being manipulated by their feelings. RECOMMENDED."

School Library Connection

07/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—Ruthie has a problem at school. It's not her classmates or her teachers or even the work she has to do—it's the Snurtch. A large, dinosaurlike orange monster, the Snurtch shadows Ruthie's every move and forces her into disruptive, rude, and mean behavior such as burping, throwing pencils, and even destroying a classmate's artwork. Ruthie is unable to get a handle on her Snurtch until one day, during art class, she stares him down and is able to capture his likeness in a drawing. She shares her picture with her classmates, who immediately offer forgiveness and understanding, and her life at school starts to look up. Her Snurtch is still with her, but she has more success taming it and even comes to learn that other students have Snurtches as well. Ferrell's clear, succinct prose will appeal to kids, but the story's overarching metaphor will go right over the heads of the story's intended audience, who will see it as a straightforward monster story. Parents and educators may also feel frustrated with Ruthie's explanation for her bad behavior, i.e., "It wasn't me, it was the Snurtch." Still, Santoso's delightful depictions of wild-eyed monsters wreaking havoc in school will delight preschoolers. VERDICT A flawed but entertaining addition for larger library collections.—Kristy Pasquariello, Wellesley Free Library, MA

School Library Journal

★ 2016-05-04
The Snurtch sits in Ruthie's seat at school, all furry, spiky, goofy, and googly-eyed, waiting—just as she expected.It hovers, pokes, and pants, orange hair and jagged mouth going every which way, getting the fair-skinned girl all mixed up in its misdeeds and bad behavior. It is "scribbly and scrunchy"; it's "grabby and burpy and rude." The other kids recoil. Children whose cheeks flush with quick anger and whose school days are riddled with frustration and regret will empathize deeply with Ruthie's helplessness at the hands of her Snurtch. And, looking at the Snurtch, which appears as a childlike drawing superimposed over polished, detailed illustrations of Ruthie, her school, and classmates, they might quickly see that Ruthie, in fact, misbehaves, since the Snurtch makes it all but impossible not to. While the Snurtch doesn't appear scary (it looks kind of silly), its perfect embodiment of overwhelming (and instantly regrettable) impulses borders on heart-wrenching. Every student harbors and battles a Snurtch, as readers see with relief on the final pages of this clever, pertinent book, but some have bigger, more monstrous ones than others. Ruthie's dark brow, set mouth, and hooded eyes make clear the weighty burden she carries around like a backpack. Original in its visual and linguistic presentation of behavioral problems, this important call for understanding should sit on library, classroom, and bedrooms shelves—the high ones, just above a Snurtch's reach. (Picture book. 2-8)

Kirkus Reviews