This is an absolutely charming modern classic from one of Britain’s all-time favourite authors. There is no-one more impressive when it comes to animal stories than Dick King-Smith and this one is our favourite. The Hodegheg has everything – humour, adventure, inspiration and plenty of advice for youngsters on the issue of safety when crossing roads! As fun for kids to read alone as for parents to read aloud with their children.
Max is a hedgehog who lives with his family in a nice little home, but unfortunately on the wrong side of the road from the Park, with its beautiful lily pond, and more importantly its juicy slugs, worms and snails! The busy road is a dangerous barrier but Max notices that humans seem to cross it quite easily. If they can, why can't hedgehogs? So Max sets out on a quest to find a safe way to reach the Park. His first attempt ends in a nasty bump on the head, and Max finds when he tries to speak his words are all mixed up. He is now a Hodgeheg, not a hedgehog, but he is still determined to fulfil his mission. After some careful detective work, Max eventually discovers the best way to cross the road - with the help of the lollipop lady, of course!
Dick King-Smith was born in 1922 and brought up in Gloucestershire.
Dick served with the Grenadier Guards during World War II and was mentioned in dispatches. He then spent twenty years working as a farmer and a short period teaching in a primary school before becoming a full-time writer.
Dick wrote over seventy stories, many of which have animal characters for the simple reason that, "I like them, I've always kept a lot of pets, and because it's fun putting words in their mouths." His farming years were the inspiration for many of his books, and pigs have featured in several of them because they are his favourite animal. Dick won the 1984 Guardian Fiction Award for The Sheep-Pig, which was later turned into an Oscar-winning film, 'Babe'. He died in 2011.
