Horace and Hattiepillar (Hedgehugs) by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson
| Horace and Hattiepillar (Hedgehugs) by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson | |
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| Category: For Sharing | |
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Reviewer: Ruth Ng
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| Summary: A sweet story that displays the transformation of a caterpillar into a butterfly in a rather lovely way. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 32 | Date: May 2015 |
| Publisher: Maverick Arts Publishing | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-1848861633 | |
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Horace and Hattie are best friends. They like to do everything that they can together, from playing hide and seek, to looking for the first star of the night. One day when they’re out together, they find something small and round and smooth handing on the bottom of a leaf. Whatever could it be?
I’m not sure why hedgehogs are so endearing, when in real life they’re prickly and often flea-ridden! Don’t worry, these are the nice, huggable sort of hedgehogs, with not a flea in sight! You will have to overlook the fact that hedgehogs are normally very happy to munch down on a worm or an insect, because in this story the thing they discover is a caterpillar’s egg, and of course soon they have a baby caterpillar on their hands. Far from eating him, however, they put all their time and energy into making sure the caterpillar is okay. They find him lots of yummy leaves to eat, and they protect him from predators as he grows bigger and bigger. They watch and they wait as he builds his cocoon, and then they look on in amazement as he flies away as a beautiful butterfly.
Most children will, of course, be aware of this lifecycle from The Very Hungry Caterpillar Pop-Up Book by Eric Carle, but here we see things from Horace and Hattie’s point of view, and it’s rather lovely to see their joy in the developments of the little caterpillar. Two of my favourite pictures in the book show Horace turning away a large bird who obviously fancied the caterpillar for lunch, and then of Hattie standing in the rain holding an umbrella over the caterpillar! I also really like the picture of the caterpillar when he is full up, as we see him lying prostrate on the ground, legs in the air, chubby belly pointing up!
I also like that once the butterfly has flown away, Horace has the brilliant idea that he and Hattie can try to turn into butterflies too. They do everything the caterpillar did and after all their eating and curling up in soft, snuggly beds made of flowers they wake up looking colourful and beautiful, and they even manage to fly! You’ll have to read it to find out how!
Horace and Hattie are rather charming little characters, and I like the design of this book, with it’s crisp colours and beautiful style. It means that as well as being a nice story to read aloud, it’s a nice book to just look at too, so you can tone it down for sleepy nap times, if need be, and just look over the pretty flowers and rainbows and stars. A sweet story, that’s a little bit educational too!
Editor's Note: we originally saw this book as a picture book but we've now seen it as a board book which would be ideal for babies and toddlers (laminated pages will wipe clean!) and also for the emerging reader as it's a size that fits nicely into a small pair of hands. The font is perfect for someone who still has their reading stabilisers on!
You might also like to try Rabbit's Wish by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell and A Little Bit of Winter also by by Stewart and Riddell.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Horace and Hattiepillar (Hedgehugs) by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Horace and Hattiepillar (Hedgehugs) by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson at Amazon.com.
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