The Penguin Podcast is back! Listen Now
The Hodgeheg

The Hodgeheg

35th Anniversary Edition

Summary

The 35th anniversary of The Hodgeheg - a timeless classic tale for young children from the master of animal stories, Dick King-Smith. Includes an author profile and interview, and fun facts.

'Sparkling humour and wonderful characters are Dick King-Smith's trademarks' - Books for Your Children

Max is a hedgehog who lives with his family in a nice little home, but it's on the wrong side of the road from the Park where there's a beautiful lily pond and plenty of juicy slugs, worms and snails!
The busy road is dangerous but Max is determined to make his way across. If humans can do it, why can't hedgehogs? His first attempt ends in a nasty bump on the head and, when Max tries to speak, he realises his words are all mixed up. He is no longer a hedgehog but a hodgeheg!

Still determined to fulfil his mission, Max discovers the best way to cross the road - with the help of the lollipop lady and some careful detective work . . .

About the author

Dick King-Smith

Dick King-Smith served in the Grenadier Guards during the Second World War, and afterwards spent twenty years as a farmer in Gloucestershire, the county of his birth. Many of his stories are inspired by his farming experiences. Later he taught at a village primary school. His first book, The Fox Busters, was published in 1978. He wrote a great number of children’s books, including The Sheep-Pig (winner of the Guardian Award and filmed as Babe), Harry’s Mad, Noah’s Brother, The Queen’s Nose, Martin’s Mice, Ace, The Cuckoo Child and Harriet’s Hare (winner of the Children’s Book Award in 1995). At the British Book Awards in 1991 he was voted Children’s Author of the Year. In 2009 he was made an OBE for services to children’s literature. Dick King-Smith died in 2011 at the age of eighty-eight. Discover more about Dick King-Smith at: dickkingsmith.com
Learn More

Sign up to the Puffin newsletter

Stories, ideas and giveaways to help you spark young imaginations