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BACK COVER

Billibonk & the Thorn Patch is a compelling story that is bound to appeal to readers of all ages. In this engaging fable, Billibonk the elephant and his friends discover the interdependent nature of life in the jungle of Knith. Together, the elephants, mice, and monkeys hone their problem-solving skills and—after much adventure (and a few misunderstandings!)—learn the value of mutual respect and thinking systemically.

No fable is complete without a moral…and this fable has many. Key lessons featured in the story include:

· Understanding natural interdependencies
· Focusing on the long-term view
· Getting to the root of a problem
· Recognizing our own role in difficult situations

Join Billibonk and the rest of the Knith gang in their journey of discovery—but beware what may be lurking in the thorn patch!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Phil Ramsey has worked at Massey University in New Zealand for 12 years, teaching and conducting research in training and development and organizational learning. He is the author of the book Successful On-the-Job Training (Palmerston North, NZ: Dunmore Press, 1993). Billibonk and the Thorn Patch is Phil's first work of fiction.

Phil and his family live in Palmerston North, New Zealand. While they occasionally share their house with itinerant mice, sadly they don't know any elephants.

EXCERPTS

When something goes wrong for an elephant, usually the elephant decides, "That was bad luck," and then forgets about it. Billibonk, however, kept thinking about the mouse who had helped him out of the thorn patch. The mouse had been so clever. Could an elephant ever think that well?

Billibonk decided to try. He decided to think about thorn patches and how to stay out of them. This was something new to Billibonk, so he did his thinking in short spells, usually during the contented time after eating, when his stomach was full. In a few days, Billibonk had "The Idea." It was an idea he knew he had to share with the other elephants.

So he waited until that evening, after the herd had bathed in the swimming hole. As the elephants relaxed together, Billibonk shyly spoke up. "Excuse me, everyone. I…I have an idea."

This was such an unusual thing for an elephant to say that the herd all immediately pricked up their ears. The only sound was the rustling of leaves, caused by the breeze created by so many elephant ears being pricked. Jawoody, a matriarch of the herd, was especially interested. She was older than most of the others. Her wrinkles were deeper and her tusks more yellowed, and everyone respected her opinion. She had a deep curiosity about anything new, and finally demanded, "Well, what is it?"

Clearing his throat, Billibonk began. "The other day, I had some very bad luck. I got stuck in a patch of thorns. My bottom was so sore that it still hurts to sit down. I'm sure that many of you have had bad luck with thorns, too." At this, a few of the gathered elephants snorted in an agreeing way. "Maybe we should think about clearing all the thorns out of the jungle," Billibonk suggested.

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Thorn patches are made up of individual thorn bushes. From the outside, a patch looks like it has thorns everywhere. In fact, as a thorn bush grows, natural spaces are created around its base, under its branches. Small animals can build their homes in these spaces. Sometimes, because of the way several bushes grow together, an extra-large space is created. Mice call these big spaces "chambers."

As word of the elephants' plan spread quickly among the mice, an emergency meeting of the Mouse Council was called that evening, to take place within one of the largest thorn-patch chambers in the jungle. Mice from all over Knith gathered at the Council thorn patch to discuss the problem.

Ragou, the head of the Mouse Council, called for silence, and addressed the group. "We are here to discuss a dangerous situation," he announced. "As you will know by now, the elephants are planning to clear all the thorn bushes out of the jungle. We should decide whether we need to do anything, and if so, what."

An excitable young mouse named Bekk jumped to his feet. "What do you mean 'if'? Of course we have to do something; these pachycraniums want to destroy our homes!"

Frankl—who usually stayed calm even in tense situations—raised his hand to speak. "Perhaps I can respond to that, Ragou. Dangers of all sorts have come and gone over the years, and we mice have learned from them. One thing we've learned is that we don't have to jump at every danger. Sometimes a problem goes away by itself. These elephants may never get around to pulling up a single thorn bush. Or they might start, but then get tired out."

"Well spoken, Frankl," said Ragou. Then noticing a hand waving toward the back of the clearing, he asked,"Yes, Yollanda?"

"I have spoken to one of these elephants, and I think we have to act," Yollanda stated. "The elephants think that clearing the thorns will prove that they're brilliant. And they're so big, they could clear a thorn patch in no time. They may tire out, but I don't want them to get tired while ruining my home!"

Around the chamber, mice squeaked their agreement. Even Frankl nodded while he thought about the damage an excited elephant could do to a thorn patch.
"We seem to agree that something has to be done," said Ragou. "Does anyone have any ideas?"

"Well," said Frankl, "we could try teaching them about the rest of the animals in the jungle. If they knew how many birds and animals live in the thorns, maybe they'd think again about their plan."

"I tried talking to one," said Yollanda "but it was a complete waste of time. They won't listen. And even if they did, we can't afford the time to teach them. They'll be wrecking our homes tomorrow!"

"Maybe we could get them busy doing something else," called out one of the Council members. "We could set a couple of yakka-yakka trees on fire, and they'd be so busy putting out the fire they might forget about the thorns."

"We are not going to stop the elephants from ruining the jungle by ruining it ourselves!" said Ragou. "But your idea might help others to think of more ideas. Let's all take a moment to think of a practical way to solve this problem."

For several minutes, the mice silently considered the situation from all angles.