As part of the Boolino Friends scheme, we are reviewing some gorgeous children's books; if you subscribe to the Boolino emails at www.boolino.co.uk you can also receive free weekend and bedtime stories with audio and text online but this week Lara and Holly have been enjoying a new paperback book, Hedgehugs by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson.
I first read Hedgehugs tonight because the girls have been pestering me for the last few nights - they first heard it from Daddy at the weekend and they both really enjoyed it so have asked me to read it to them again. Mr. B. had warned me that the story was very sad, and I had prepared myself for a little bedtime tear or two... but now I've read it, I think he was just being soft!
Hedgehugs is the tail of Horace and Hattie, two hedgehogs who are very good friends, perhaps even in love. They love doing all sorts of things together but one thing that Horace and Hattie can't do is hug...they are just too spiky. This makes Mr. B. very sad indeed!
We loved the cute hedgehog illustrations throughout the book and Lara particularly noticed that the story tells the tale through each of the seasons of the year with lots of patterns and prints that look like different fabric offcuts. The text is big and bold and not too complex so older children can enjoy reading the story themselves. You can get a taste of Lucy Tapper's cute illustrative style at www.fromlucy.com
When the story ends, you find out how hedgehogs can hug each other and it brings a smile to everyone's face. I won't ruin the story for you but lets say, the ending really has got my girls thinking about where our mountain of odd socks has come from.
I'd recommend Hedgehugs as a picture story book for children from about 3 years to 8 years.
