View source for Rabbit's Wish by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

{{infobox2
|title=Rabbit's Wish
|author=Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell
|reviewer=Sue Magee
|genre=For Sharing
|summary=A delightful and thoughful story of Rabbit and Hedgehog and how they accept each other's differences.
|rating=4.5
|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|pages=32
|publisher=Andersen
|date=August 2012
|isbn=978-1842700891
|aznuk=1842700898
|aznus=1842700898
|cover=1842700898
}}

Rabbit's best friend is Hedgehog but they don't get to spend a lot of time together because Rabbit is awake during the day and Hedgehog is awake at night.  One day Rabbitt made a wish that Hedgehog could stay up all day with him - and it came true, but not in the way Rabbit was expecting.  There was a downpour and Rabbit's burrow was flooded.  The hill on which he lived was turned into an island as the lake rose higher and higher.  His first thought as for Hedgehog and he shouted to see if he was OK - but Hedgehog had worried about Rabbit and he'd swum across to make certain that ''he'' was alright.  They had a wonderful time but Rabbit worried that it was his wish that had caused the problem.

This is a lovely book on so many levels.  Young children won't immediately be conscious of the message about accepting people for what they are rather than wishing that they were different. It's done with great subtlety and in the nicest possible way but Rabbit and Hedgehog accept that they are different and are still the best of friends.

On another level there's a valuable message about wildlife.  Rabbits are active during the day.  They might not clean out their burrows and play ball as the story suggests but it's right that they're about during the day.  Hedgehogs are only about during the day if there's a problem and I'm regularly infuriated by children's books which suggest otherwise.  This is a lovely book which takes the facts as they are and weaves a good story around them rather than perpetuating wrong information.

Forget all my moralising and lecturing - this ''is'' a lovely story.  There's friendship.  There's fun.  There's a little bit of drama - but not too much - and a happy ending.  The pictures are delightful and they're anatomically correct.  Hogs might have sharp spines on their backs but the fur underneath is delightfully soft and Chris Riddell's drawings bring this out perfectly.  It's a book to treasure.

I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.

If this book appeals then you might also like [[Horace and Hattiepillar (Hedgehugs) by Lucy Tapper and Steve Wilson]], [[Diamond in the Snow by Jonathan Emmett]] or [[Hogs Hate Hugs by Tiziana Bendall-Brunello and John Bendall-Brunello]], although we had our doubts about that one.

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[[Category:Paul Stewart]]
[[Category:Chris Riddell]]