Roslyn Rutabaga wakes up one morning with a plan. This imaginative little rabbit wants to dig the Biggest Hole on Earth. “I might dig all the way to China,” she tells her father at breakfast. “Or even to the South Pole.” Her father gently supports her plan with encouraging comments such as, “You’d better take a sweater. It gets pretty cold in the South Pole.”

Roslyn finds the perfect place to dig in the middle of the lawn. However, her shovelling is halted by a grouchy worm who informs her that she is disturbing his front yard. When our intrepid bunny digs in other spots, a mole and then a dog complain that she is interfering with their spaces. Just as she is about to give up, Roslyn’s kindly father comes by with lunch and encouragement: “Roslyn, are you down there?... I can hardly see you.” Hope is resurrected.

Marie-Louise Gay has created yet another endearing character. Readers young and old will identify with this fanciful individual who holds her dreams close. How fortunate she is to have a father who gently provides reassurance and affirmation. Somehow we just know that Roslyn will continue to wonder and have adventures.

Gay’s uninhibited artwork provides a sense of positive energy. She illustrates with watercolours, acrylic, pastels, aquarelle crayons, pencil and collage on Kraft paper and handmade Japanese paper. Examining each picture is an adventure in itself, and many delightful surprises will be revealed in the details. Gay’s ability to distill this parent-child relationship in so few words and images is a feat to be lauded.

Although Roslyn may not ever reach the South Pole, she has certainly unearthed a solid place within this reader’s heart. Long live Roslyn Rutabaga and her aspirations!

Roslyn would really like to meet a penguin so she’s going to dig a hole — not a tiny mouse hole or a medium-sized rabbit hole but the biggest hole on earth. But finding the perfect place to dig may be more of a challenge than she’d thought. Filled with Marie-Louise Gay’s delightful illustrations, this tale of the imaginative and determined young Roslyn will appeal to little adventurers everywhere. This title is also available in French as Roselyne Rutabaga remue ciel et terre!