Picture book review : Hedgehugs: Hopping Hot - Lucy Tapper & Steve Wilson

We love The Hedgehugs here at The Madhouse so we were delighted when we received the latest adventures of prickly pals Horace and Hattie to devour. We've already read (and loved) Hedgehugs and Hedgehugs: Horace and Hattiepillar so we couldn't wait to see what loved-up larks they'd get up to this time.

As usual, the basic premise of the story is a problem, in this case how to play their favourite hopping game with their grasshopper friend when it's too hot, and working out a way of overcoming it by trial and error. We always love watching how they work through different solutions until they find something (often quite unexpected and accidental) that works for them - a great life lesson about thinking outside of the box and using whatever you have at hand along with a bit of imagination.

I always love the sheer delight that they find in life's little pleasures - in fact, I said the other day that that should be my new year's resolution for 2016 : taking a leaf out of the Hedgehugs's book to appreciate the smallest joys in day-to-day life and not take life too seriously.

The book also gives lots of great ideas for simple but fun activities, such as making pretty patterns in the autumn leaves.

Or catching sycamore seeds as they spiral down to earth and making perfume from petals, both things that I used to enjoy in my own carefree childhood days.

The story is lovely but it's the beautiful illustrations that really bring it to life. In fact, I mentioned in an earlier review that they would make fabulous artwork for a child's bedroom, so I was delighted to see that you can buy framed prints at fromlucy.com, the author's website.

star rating : 5/5

RRP : £6.99

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Maverick Arts Publishing (28 Jan. 2016)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1848861893
• ISBN-13: 978-1848861893
• Product Dimensions: 26.6 x 0.3 x 26.3 cm

Disclosure : We received the book in order to write an honest review.