Part of the fun of making my latest book, Willoughby’s World of Wonder, is that I got to create a variety of weird, small critters. Sure, there are lots of big creatures in Willoughby’s, such as a Pegasus, Unicorn, sea monsters, Giants, Kraken, and so many more, but the little creatures are just cute. Mostly.
The creature above is an Egyptian Book Mite. These diminutive beasties love to eat old scrolls, parchment, and vellum, and thus destroyed the Great Library of Alexandria. The librarians there deliberately set the place ablaze to hide the severe damage the Book Mites did.
The Wild Hare Hen is is an Easter favorite amongst the children. Hatching from brightly-colored shells, the Hare Hens were given as gifts during this holiday season. They cannot be domesticated, however, as successive generations of captive Hare Hens, and their eggs, lose their colors, until they become blank white. Many scholars believe that finding the colorful eggs in the wild led to the tradition of the Easter Egg Hunt.
City dwellers are already familiar with the Sky Rat. Half-rat, half-pigeon these vermin fly through the subway tunnels in great flocks, swarming into subway stations, heralding the arrival of trains. They are generally considered unclean animals.
The Wheel Snake evolved from simpler species of snakes because of the need to survive in hostile environments. These snakes have four separate digestive systems, allowing it to capture and eat new prey even as it is still digesting other prey. This comes in handy in the desert, where food is scarce, and bounty must be taken advantage of. It leaves a distinctive spiral trail as it moves through sand or soft dirt.