The Hodgeheg

Product Information

This book woud also be an excellent first chapter book for independant readers in years 3 and 4, dependant upon ability. There are not many pictures in the book, but the text engages the reader and is simplistic enough that younger children in Key Stage 1 would enjoy it if it was being read aloud to them. Sparkling humour and wonderful characters are Dick King-Smith’s trademarks’ – Books for Your ChildrenMax 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 next morning at the crack of dawn a family of hedgehogs cross the road with the help of the lolipop lady, and they all make it to the park. On one of his attempts he gets a bump to the head by a cyclist which results in his words all mixed up when he tries to speak - and he becomes 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. The use of illustrative vocabulary throughout the book can be used to develop children's own vocabulary in retelling the story and describing how the characters are feeling. It does stop short if describing deaths but a curious child could well have questions based on the text.Max lives in the garden of 5A with ‘Pa Hedgehog’, ‘Ma Hedgehog’, and his three sisters, ‘Peony Hedgehog’, ‘Penny Hedgehog’ and ‘Petunia Hedgehog’. The story focusses on Max the "hodgeheg" who tries to devise a way in which hedgehogs can cross the road safely. So one day he readies himself at the edge of the path and when the man turns green he tries to run across the road. The Hodgeheg is a children's book written by author Dick-King Smith, who specializes in animal books. 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 Hodgeheg , Martin's Mice , Ace , The Cuckoo Child and Harriet's Hare (winner of the Children's Book Award in 1995).

Yoto says: Follow Max's journey from hedgehog to hodgeheg in this collection of stories from Dick King-Smith. They will form a list of sentence openers as a class that will then help to inform their report writing at a later date. The main problem to the adult mind is the idea of hedgehogs trying to figure out a road safety plan. There are some nice little realistic details, like the description of the difference between a juvenile and an adult hedgehog, and how noisy young hedgehogs are (it really is true). I liked Max's determination to find a safe way to cross the road as well as his courage and fortitude to continue his quest despite being hurt in the process.A detailed lesson plan, a slideshow for the teaching input, and differentiated worksheets are all included in this Features of a Non-chronological Report KS1 English planning pack! The Hodgeheg’ is the story of Max, a young hedgehog who wants to play in the park; his only obstacle is a busy road. Despite all of this, Max does not give up and decides that, since humans cross the road during the day, he should try this too.

I quite like the Hodgeheg because Max kept trying cross the road but it wasn't the best place to cross if you were a hedgehog so Max tried to find a way.

The slides will remind children of the features of a non-chronological report and discuss what they need to include in their plan. Dick's story The Water Horse was also turned into a major Hollywood film, and The TV series' The Queen's Nose and Harry's Mad were very popular. Now, obviously, it's a really simple and quick read -- though at least I think there are no plot holes. Now that your KS1 class knows all sorts of facts about hedgehogs, it’s time to plan their non-chronological reports! Interaction and animation is rife throughout the book, which makes is a very fun resource not only for reading alone but also for reading aloud as part of a group.