The owl & the woodsman, Dorsdorf, informs the child about the activity that goes on 24/7. When a child is asleep others are up and working. In this story it's animals. The best analogy is Santa Claus; he's delivering toys while they sleep. This can be expanded into different time zones Europe & seasons on the same day, Australia & North America.
The gerbil teaches perception, being so small all people are giants in its eyes until he sits on a window sill of an office building 4 stories high and sees people as smaller. It's a matter of perspective which he soon finds out when through a series of circumstances, he finds himself on the street with giants. He doesn't ever get an explanation why he saw little people. The Child/s reader explains why the gerbil does not understand why the people and cars appear smaller because of height.
