The Adventures of Horatio Hedgehog, Book 1: Horatio’s New House
by Pam Newman
Michelle Holland, illustrator
Penn Press
4 Stars
NEW! Short Review
Back Cover: A wonderful story about a hedgehog named Horatio who has moved into a new house in a pile of leaves that the wind has blown against a tree. Now all he needs is to furnish his home with items to make a cosy little dwelling. He meets up with various animals in the neighborhood on his path who have items they no longer need and rather than throwing these away, Horatio offers to take them off their paws by way of recycling for his new home resulting in a lovely, warm and comfortable house.
First Sentence: Horatio Hedgehog was a very busy.
What the Story is About: Horatio Hedgehog has moved into a tree with an entrance hidden by windswept leaves. His old house, washed away by a storm, left him in need of new digs. Normally, Horatio does not venture far from home, but he needs things to make his new home, well, a home. The first item Horatio decides he needs is a doormat. He went walking down a path until he met up with Mrs. Rabbit. He told her his need and she had an old red carpet that fit his need perfectly. Throughout the day, Horatio continues to walk in different directions, hoping to find the items he wishes for his new home.
What I Think: Horatio’s New House is a small 4 X 4 book full of cute illustrations. The text is an easy, fun read that parents will not mind re-reading to their young children. There is repletion to Horatio’s adventure. He walks down a path, meets a neighbor, exchanges pleasantries, and then takes an 
unwanted item off their hands. Horatio recycles each item, often repairing it first. By book’s end, Horatio is tired, but has a cozy home and a soft, cozy bed to lie down.
The repetition is good for children learning how to read. They can anticipate the next line and begin to recognize words. This repetition may show up in their play later that day or the next, helping to spark imagination. Horatio recycles all of the unwanted items into his home. This good stewardship of the land teaches children that broken items can have new life and not everything broken is useless. Trash heaps are out of control in many places, so this is a valuable and neighborly thing for children to understand.
The illustrations are simple. Most lie below the text, which pushes the eyes to the words first. Done in shades of brown, the minimalistic images contain our hero Horatio, the animal neighbors he encounters, and the broken item he accepts and fixes. There is not a lot of extraneous detail to distract young eyes.
I like Horatio’s New House for its simplicity. I think this is a cute book young children will enjoy. I wish the pages were thicker, more like a board book so little hands could more readily turn the pages without tearing or needing help. I also would have liked a larger book; more along the tradition picture book size, if not a more traditional 7 ¼ x 7 ¼ inch square board book. Otherwise, I love the story and the anthropomorphic characters. Except for Horatio, who has rosy cheeks and green boots, the speaking characters all look as one would expect.
Horatio’s New House should appeal to young children. It is long enough—or short enough, depending on your viewpoint—to make a lovely bedtime story. Children will fall fast asleep thinking of ways to add new life to old toys, or picturing a cute Hedgehog who has finally found a wonderful bed in which to lay his head.
NEW! Short Review is HERE
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The Adventures of Horatio Hedgehog, Book 1: Horatio’s New House
by Pam Newman website blog facebook twitter
Michelle Holland, illustrator website blog facebook twitter
Pen Press website blog facebook twitter
Released June 20, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-78003-599-4
32 pages
Ages: 3 to 6
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© 2013 Pam Newman, used with permission
Text: Copyright © 2013 by Pam Newman
Illustrations: Copyright © 2013 by Michelle Holland
Pen Press is an imprint of Indepenpress Publishing Limited
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That sounds like a sweet book! And our youth librarian here has a collection of miniature books that this would be perfect for.
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Miniature books are so cute. Another reader collects those. I imagine they are not the easiest books to read. 🙂
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Ok, first…Awwww… the book sounds adorable.
Now, moving on… am I seeing correctly that you are now doing two separate posts with every review? A long version and a short version? Do you live in a magical land where there are extra hours in a day? Cause if you do, I want to come over there too! Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop!
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Have you not heard? In my part of the world, a red or blue state, I do not remember which, time has been extended. It stops at the border to Michigan–boo wolverines, Go Bucks!–and does not pick up north of there. It is a new phenomenon! The magic pill is no sleep. That’s the on–zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz*snore*
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Wonderful review, Sue! You definitely hooked me. And the illustrations are so cute!
I will definitely have to keep an eye out for this one. 🙂
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Glad you like it. I enjoy little books. Horatio is a cute little bugger, I mean, hedgehog.
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A lovely review for a lovely book Sue. I have a couple of recycling type stories but they are with humans, so I really love the concept of Horatio. Thanks again for hosting the kid lit blog hop
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You have recycling stories about humans? Ew, where does one recycle humans? I am actually afraid I asked that question. And not one story but two. Is this something that is common to being “down under?”
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Its been sometime since I came across a name like Horatio 🙂 Nice to see uncommon names in story books so kids get a variety of “name” reading skills! The illustrations look wonderful, very warm and inviting. Thanks for the lovely review. Will look for this at the library.
-Reshama
http://www.stackingbooks.com
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I hope you find it there. IF not, this is an inexpensive little book on the author’s site. Thanks for stopping by.
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Sounds great! I know that in one book Max and I read, the rhyming and the repetition have him telling me the words even before I have read them! Thanks for being a great KLBH hostess 🙂
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You are welcome. Thank you for being a KLBH hopper! I am glad you hopped over here! 😀
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🙂 Me too!
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Horatio Hedgehog sounds lovely – I love the idea of the recycling theme.
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Hi Catherine. ARe you a blog hopper today? Nice to see you here. 🙂
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This was so cute! My kids will surely love it! Nice review!
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Welcome, Ann! 🙂
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A little book for little hands about a recycling hedgehog! How cute!
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What would Lobo think about a hedgehog? Maybe that is not a good question to ask. Nice to see you again C.L.! 🙂
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Hi Sue,
Lobo loves all forest animals, even little prickly ones. There is NEVER a bad question to ask. Don’t you agree?
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I agree. What question would you or Lobo like to ask? 😆
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That’s a loaded question.
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😆
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This book sounds wonderful. I like that Horatio recycles things–that is an important lesson for children in our want-everything-new world we live in today. Great review.
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*read with southern accent* Why thank you, Ms. Diane. I sure do appreciate it. (My “it’s too hot not to sound southern, kind of day”).
I don’t recycle, I hoard! Does that count? I could write a book to influence kids to hoard if they don’t like to recycle. Think it could sell? 😆
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Hoarding is good if you can’t recycle. Yes, your book would definitely sell!
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This sounds like a pretty cute story. Horatio himself is pretty cute! I happen to like tiny books. We have quite a collection on our shelves. I’ll have to check this one out! Thanks!
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Do you collect really tiny books,the miniature ones? Those are really difficult to read. How do you show the pictures to the kids so they can see them? You are one multi-talented hound dog Rhythm! 😀
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Well, the tiny books are mostly for the Mom Person, but our little Princesses like them a lot. Some happen to be very good stories. And they fit nicely into little hands.
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