Tricks and 'Little Tricker'

Ken Kesey accomplishes several interesting things in 'Little Tricker the Squirrel meets Big Double the Bear'.

For one thing, this is a children's book by Ken Kesey, which is a bit like an album of lullabies played by Miles Davis: sure, it's simple stuff, but you know it's going to be done with flair, creativity, and control. Kesey avoids making the book overtly adult, adding no subtexts that would appeal to older readers but only confuse children. To return to my metaphor, Kesey approaches his subject like Miles would have approached the lullabies: trying to make the best possible of the form he's working with.

The story is full of linguistic parallels. For example, Big Double always threatens the unfortunate animals in the same way, and the animals always respond in the same way. This pattern comes to represent, in the reader's mind, a kind of prophecy. In other words, each time the same 'incantation' is repeated, the outcome is indicated. This only changes when Tricker himself encounters Big Double, and he upsets the whole linguistic ritual. This signals to a canny reader that Tricker will be the animal to defeat Big Double.

It is also interesting to notice that all of the other animals attempt to escape Big Double physically, by running, or jumping, or climbing. They all fail miserably. Only Tricker, who uses his mind against Big Double, is successful. We might take this to be one possible moral of Kesey's folktale: wits matter, too.

Overall, a very exciting and interesting piece of work. I, for one, liked it and the presentation. It was creative. I'm always up for creativity, you know.