Hedgehogs are one my favorite animals, so I was excited to read hedgehog picture books with my son 🙂 Here is a list of 6 of our favorites. Some are older titles and others are more current, but we were able to find them all at our public library. Check your library for these and other great hedgehog picture books.
Picture Books–
1. Hedgie’s Surprise by Jan Brett–
Jan Brett is a fantastic storyteller and illustrator! This is a funny hedgehog book featuring Hedgie, a reoccurring character in several of Jan Brett’s books. In this story, Hedgie’s friend Henny keeps getting her eggs stolen by a child. The child returns every morning to steal an egg and Henny needs help protecting her eggs. Hedgie replaces the eggs with other things to eat, such as a strawberry, a mushroom, and even a potato. Still the child keeps coming back! Finally Hedgie comes up with a great way to stop the egg thief — Hedgie hides in the chicken’s nest and gives the child a handful of prickles!
2. Hedgehugs by Steve Wilson–
Are you ready to meet Horace and Hattie, two of the cutest hedgehogs ever!?! These two hedgehogs are best friends and love to do things together. In fact, they pretty much do everything together except hug. How are two spiky hedgehogs supposed to be able to hug each other? The two friends try all sorts of different ways (cue preschooler giggles), but nothing is working. Then, they stumble upon some laundry drying in the sun and get the best idea! Brace yourself for a super cute hug 🙂 Horace and Hattie have more adorable adventures, so be sure to check your library for the others in this series.
3. Ouch by Ragnhild Scamell (republished as Apple Trouble) —
In this story, an adorable hedgehog gets an apple stuck its back. Now hedgehog can’t fit into its den and winter is coming. The hedgehog’s animal friends try to help and get the apple off, but each attempt ends up with more things stuck to the poor hedgehog. After squeezing, and swimming, and rolling around, hedgehog and friends are running out of ideas. Fortunately, along comes a goat with a big appetite and eats all of the things that are stuck on hedgehog!
4. Hedgehog and Rabbit: the scary wind by Pablo Albo —
This book is perfect for fall! Friends, Hedgehog and Rabbit are enjoying the day when the wind comes through, sending leaves twirling in the air. Rabbit thinks he sees a monster! He yells and runs for safety in a hollow log. Hedgehog didn’t see anything scary, but hearing Rabbit yell, Hedgehog runs to the log too. Mistaken identities and silliness ensues as Rabbit and Hedgehog each try to scare away the monster! Despite being afraid, both Rabbit and Hedgehog muster up enough courage to help each other in acts of true friendship.
5. The Snowy Nap by Jan Brett–
It’s time for hedgehog to hibernate, but hedgehog wants to stay awake and experience the beauty that winter brings. All of the other animals tell hedgehog about icicles and glistening snow and fun winter activities that happen while hedgehog is asleep. Determined not to miss out this year, hedgehog tries his best to stay awake with the help of a nice girl. Fortunately a snow storm comes and turns everything into a winter wonderland just before hedgehog falls asleep.
6. Prickly Hedgehogs! by Jane McGuiness–
I love that this story is filled with factual information about hedgehogs! We learned that hedgehogs are nocturnal, like to eat bugs, and what they do to prepare for winter. The story itself, isn’t very long, but it is a fun read-aloud. Filled with cute pictures and lovely background colors, you and your child will definitely enjoy this book together.
Please check your public library for these books. If you choose to purchase them, please note that I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of my website. So if you buy something through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂
For more fall animal stories, check out my SQUIRREL BOOKS post.
Paper Plate Hedgehog Craft —
Make this cute hedgehog and let your little one and practice scissor skills!
Supplies needed are:
–1 paper plate
–water color paints
–scissors
–googly eyes
To Make:
-Cut a plate in half. Trim one of the halves to look like it has a hedgehog profile.
-Paint your hedgehog with water colors and let your project dry.
-Kids can practice scissors skills by cutting along the outer edge of the plate to make spikes. After cutting, gently push and pull spikes to separate them.
-Add googly eyes, and then you have a cute little hedgehog.
