Tundra Books

36650534

Title: Hedge Hog! (or Hedgehog!)

Author/Illustrator: Ashlyn Anstee

Publisher/Year: Tundra Books/2018

Back Cover Blurb: It’s Hedgehog’s hedge and he isn’t sharing.

*Review copy provided by Penguin Random House Canada

All of the animals in the garden are preparing for winter. Finding a cozy place to call home for the season, like a burrow, hive, or nest, is at the top of everyone’s list. The animals need shelter in order to survive the coming cold.

The bees, foxes, birds, and groundhogs happily share their homes with the other animals. Grasshopper, who dwells under the hedge, does too, especially after Hedgehog–who lives in the hedge, all by himself, and likes it that way–turns the other animals away.

As more and more animals show up on his doorstep looking for a place to stay, Hedgehog becomes increasingly agitated and he puts up signs and builds a fence to keep them out. But when Grasshopper accuses him of being a hedge hog, he goes inside and slams the door, with disastrous results. How will the others react now that Hedgehog is the one in need?

Though overflowing with cute, expressive characters, and featuring an unusual setting and fun text, the book offers readers something more–a message about helping others, sharing what we have, and being gracious.

Taken literally, opening our doors and allowing strangers to move into our homes is unrealistic and potentially dangerous. But opening our hearts to help those in need is something each one of us can do in our own way. Whether you donate to a worthy cause, volunteer your time, assist a neighbor, or simply show thoughtfulness by holding a door for someone, you can make the world a better place. We all can. Let’s start today. 🙂

My picture book The Peddler’s Bed is centered around a bed, but I never considered it a bedtime story. It could certainly be read at bedtime, but it wasn’t written with that in mind. When I think of bedtime stories, I think of books like Goodnight Moon or other soft, lyrical, lulling stories. I think I’m both right and wrong about that.

Wikipedia defines a bedtime story as a “traditional form of storytelling, where a story is told to a child at bedtime to prepare the child for sleep.” Most any picture book could be deemed a bedtime story under that definition. If you read your child a book before bedtime, any book, then you are reading a bedtime story. And that’s great! I believe reading to or with your child at bedtime strengthens the bond between you.

There are many picture books about nightime and/or going to sleep, but very few are focused on an actual bed. So for this post, I thought I’d share two recent titles I came across that, like The Peddler’s Bed, are all about the bed (and a few other characters).

In Simon’s New Bed, Simon the dog is overjoyed to get a new bed, but when he returns from going for a walk with his best friend, the boy, ready to take a nap, he discovers Miss Adora Belle the cat asleep in his brand new bed. He tries everything to get her to move. He howls. He barks. He drags the bed all over the house. He even begs. Nothing works. Finally, he has the answer. He asks if they can share. That’s just what they do. And the two nap happily together.

The bed in The Pirate’s Bed is a true character, a living, breathing character with emotions and longings. When a terrible storm destroys the pirates’ ship, the bed is lost at sea. It drifts along contentedly at first, glad to be away from the smelly, snoring pirate. But after awhile, despite the birds that would come to perch on it and the playful dolphins that swam around it, the bed felt lonely. Then one day, it washed ashore. It was discovered, fixed, and sold, and finally found happiness in the home of a boy who dreamed of pirates.

If you know any other picture books that feature beds, or if you’d like to weigh in on what you consider a bedtime story, please leave a comment.

For more information about my book The Peddler’s Bed, click here. How does my book compare to the two titles above? I think you will find all three to be very different.