Blog Tour & Giveaway: Our Friend Hedgehog by Lauren Castillo

Beagles and Books is excited to be part of the Our Friend Hedgehog blog tour organized by Rockstar Book Tours.

About the Book:
Title: OUR FRIEND HEDGEHOG
Author/Illustrator: Lauren Castillo
Pub. Date: May 5, 2020
Pubisher: Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Pages: 122
Find it: Goodreads, Amazon, Kindle, B&N, ibooks, Kobo, TBD, Bookshop.org.

Publisher’s Summary:

From a Caldecott Honor-winning artist comes a cozy classic-in-the-making about finding your friends and sticking together through thick and thin.

“Our Friend Hedgehog feels like a modern-day Winnie the Pooh . It’s so warm and full of joy and love. It’s got classic written all over it.” –Victoria Jamieson, Newbery Honor-winning author of Roller Girl

Sometimes you make a friend,
and it feels like you have known that friend your entire life. . . .

Hedgehog lives on a teeny-tiny island with only her stuffed dog, Mutty, for company. When a great storm carries Mutty away, she embarks on a quest to find her friend. Following the trail of clues Mutty left behind, brave Hedgehog meets a wiggly Mole, a wordy Owl, a curmudgeonly Beaver, a scatterbrained Hen and Chicks, and a girl who’s new to the neighborhood, Annika May. With bravery and teamwork, there’s nothing that can stop these seven from finding Mutty, but along the way they discover something even more important: each other.

The first book in a new series from Caldecott Honor winner Lauren Castillo, Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us has the feel of a timeless classic, introducing an unforgettable cast of characters who will star in many more adventures to come.

Review:
The first book in the Our Friend Hedgehog series, The Story of Us tells how Hedgehog’s circle of friends grew.  At first, it was just Hedgehog and Mutty, two friends living on an island.

But when a terrible storm carries away Mutty, Hedgehog finds the courage to take a journey to find her dear pup.  On her travels, Hedgehog meets Mole, Owl, Beaver, Hen and Chicks, and finally, Annika Mae, a young girl who recently moved to Hedge Hollow.  Each character is introduced in a chapter where readers gets to know their unique personality and traits.

Reading about Hedgehog and her friends transported me back to the books of my childhood.  I grew up on friendship stories like Frog and Toad and Winnie the Pooh.  And I love that Annika Mae takes photographs with a classic Polaroid.   As a reading specialist who works with striving readers, I appreciate all the supports author/illustrator Lauren Castillo provides to help children who are transitioning to reading chapter books. A map of Hedge Hollow and an illustrated cast of characters appear before the first chapter, rich and warm artwork graces on almost every page, and short chapters make the novel less daunting.

Can’t wait for my students to meet Hedgehog, Annika Mae, and all the other animals in Hedge Hollow!

About Lauren:

Lauren studied illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art and received her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York City. She is the author and illustrator of the 2015 Caldecott Honor winning book, Nana in the City, as well as The Troublemaker and Melvin and the Boy. Lauren has also illustrated several critically acclaimed picture books, including Kirkus Prize finalist Imagine by Juan Felipe Herrera, Twenty Yawns by Jane Smiley, and Yard Sale by Eve Bunting. She currently draws and dreams in Harrisburg, PA.

Tour Schedule:

Week Three:

5/11/2020	Hurn Publications	Review
5/12/2020	Locks, Hooks and Books	Review
5/13/2020	Beagles & Books	Review
5/14/2020	Log Cabin Library	Excerpt
5/15/2020	YA Book Nerd	Review

Week Four:

5/18/2020	Adventures in Literature	Review
5/19/2020	❧Defining Ways❧	Review
5/20/2020	Two Chicks on Books	Interview
5/21/2020	Lifestyle of Me	Review
5/22/2020	Cindy’s Love of Books	Review

Week Five:

5/25/2020	A Dream Within A Dream	Excerpt
5/26/2020	Do You Dog-ear?	Review
5/27/2020	Such A Novel Idea	Review
5/28/2020	Sometimes Leelynn Reads	Review
5/29/2020	Twirling Book Princess	Excerpt