About the Book

 


Book: Darling Hedgehog Goes Down A Foxhole


Author: Auralee Arkinsly


Genre: Early reader chapter book


Release Date: September 13, 2019

 

Darling Hedgehog learns about the animal nature of things in high humor and carefree, cute, and winning episodes. This childhood story reads a bit like Aesop’s Fables or a retelling of Little Red Riding Hood, for children 4-8 or preschool and kindergarten, as a read-to-me picture book, and first grade and second grade as a chapter book.
 
Pictures similar to the Mercy Watson series are characterized and painted in full-color, though the pages are set up like a chapter book.
 
This book helps to train children in natural wisdom, analysis, and discernment. It helps to balance the teachings of acceptance of everyone and friendliness to all. There may be good purposes for everyone to exist under heaven, yet all purposes may not be good for a child. So, beware, be discrete, and flee from crafty foxes especially when they are holding your parents in the pantry.

 



Click HERE to purchase your copy.

 

About the Author

 

 

Auralee Arkinsly writes in good humor about serious subjects because kids of all ages can learn a lot from laughing. She is a strong believer in right and wrong but knows that getting onto the right path can mean falling down a slippery slope. She reckons if she can save some from the bumps and bruises, then she has done her job

 

More from Auralee

 

I’m so excited to launch my children’s book, Darling Hedgehog Goes Down a Foxhole with the Celebrate Lit crew!  You are a river of hope for a new author.
 
So, here’s the story behind the story.
 
My friend and fellow author, Kathy Joy, left me a small hedgehog in a tutu as a going away gift on her guest bed after she had been visiting. I put it on the windowsill in my bedroom, and every morning, I would see it when I awoke.
 
I don’t know if you can relate to this experience, but I often wake up from a good night’s sleep with the gift of a problem being solved.  Sometimes, I wake up with a creative idea.  Well, one day, I awoke to find that I had the beginnings of a child’s story about where the hedgehog found her tutu.
 
Initially, it was a simple story about Darling Hedgehog finding a foxy friend who helps Darling find her calling.
 
I wrote out the story and then asked a talented neighborhood girl if she would like to draw the pictures for the tall tale. Having seen a lot of Julia’s sketches as she grew up, I thought that she might like to know what it felt like to earn money from her talents and at the same time, learn about the process of creating a book with an author to propose to a publishing company.
 
She agreed. Julia was in ninth grade. She was at the age where she was beginning to think about high school jobs and even to make plans for college and a career.
 
The same day we wrote out our contract, Julia sent me her first image of what she imagined Darling to look like. It clearly was not a mistake to hire this young artist!
 
When I awoke another morning, I believed God had given me another bit of advice. I needed to do better research on the nature of hedgehogs and foxes, their habitats and characteristics. The outcome caused the story to take a turn towards intrigue.  It became a fable. It became an action-adventure animal story. It became better.
 
A librarian encouraged us to continue with it no longer as a picture book for very small children but as an early reader chapter book for second graders learning about similes.
 
I hope that we can teach children to notice facts and objective truth as they are being trained for life. So, I’ve accepted that my child’s fantasy had to grow some legs of gravity and wisdom.  I’ve trusted my editors and beta readers that this is true, but I’m not above being told off.
 

My Review

 

When I select a book to review, I either skim the synopsis or skip it entirely because I do not want to know any of the details of what happens within the pages until I actually read them myself. To avoid developing preconceived notions, I do the same with any reviews that have already been written about the book. As a result, I chose to review this children’s book based on the cute cover and the title. I love reading about nature, both fictional and factual, and enjoy anthropomorphic stories.

Auralee Arkinsly’s “Darling Hedgehog Goes Down a Foxhole”, however, was not at all what I was expecting. By page 4 I was very perturbed, and the feeling only intensified as I began to realize why “horror” was one of the subjects listed in the cataloguing information on the copyright page. The author’s intent of warning about stranger danger is pertinent and certainly important, but the execution in this story is sorely lacking. Because this book comes from a Christian publishing company, I expected there to be at least a subtle faith element, but I did not find any redemptive thread, discreet or not. In fact, quite the opposite.

Since the target age group for “Darling Hedgehog Goes Down a Foxhole” is early elementary, I am going to do something that I would otherwise steer clear of and detail some of the actions that I found alarming, thereby giving some spoilers in the process. As the story opens, Darling Hedgehog is looking for her lost parents and falls into a foxhole, where she meets Miss Fox, whose motivation seems like it should be clear but instead immediately becomes puzzling and distorted. She dresses “Dumpling” in a tutu and pink bow and then puts makeup on and dresses up herself. Darling becomes enamored with pleasing her in gratitude for the tutu and completely forgets about her missing parents. Miss Fox ties a consenting Darling to her convertible’s rear-view mirror with a leather strap so that she can “feel the wind” and later asks Darling to be a doorstop at her shop. Then when Darling prepares to get Miss Fox something to eat, she finds small animals in cages in the pantry, including her parents. She frees her mom and dad but none of them let any of the other animals out, although there is clearly an opportunity to do so. The moral of the story is that “Not every stranger can be a friend” and therefore the hedgehogs need their spines, so “They were glad to have found their spines…and each other.”

As much as I wanted to like this book, I can’t. If the story was reworked to be less demoralizing and strange, I think that it could be a good one. There are openings for Christian faith and values which, if explored, would bring an uplifting tone of redemption and point out the Lord’s protection over children and families. I give kudos to the illustrator, who is only in ninth grade, but I cannot recommend this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book through CelebrateLit and was not required to post a favorable review. All opinions are my own.

 

Blog Stops

 

A Baker’s Perspective, December 11

A Diva’s Heart, December 11

Girls in White Dresses, December 11

Library Lady’s Kid Lit, December 12

For Him and My Family, December 12

Older & Smarter?, December 13

Emily Yager, December 13

For the Love of Literature, December 13

Just the Write Escape, December 14

Blogging With Carol, December 14

Truth and Grace Homeschool Academy, December 15

Bigreadersite, December 15

janicesbookreviews, December 15

Abba’s Prayer Warrior Princess, December 16

Jeanette’s Thoughts, December 16

Blossoms and Blessings, December 17

Southern Gal Loves to Read, December 17

A Reader’s Brain, December 17

Aryn the Libraryan, December 18

Lights in a Dark World, December 18

Remembrancy, December 19

Inklings and notions, December 19

Lighthouse Academy, December 19 (Guest Review from Marilyn Ridgway)

Because I said so — and other adventures in Parenting, December 20

Live.Love.Read., December 20

Book Bites, Bee Stings, & Butterfly Kisses, December 21

Sara Jane Jacobs, December 21

The Christian Fiction Girl, December 22

Where Crisis & Christ Collide, December 22

Maureen’s Musings, December 23

With a Joyful Noise, December 23

Texas Book-aholic, December 24

Debbie’s Dusty Deliberations, December 24

 

Giveaway

 

 
To celebrate her tour, Auralee is giving away the grand prize of a set of Darling Hedgehog greeting cards!!
 
Be sure to comment on the blog stops for nine extra entries into the giveaway! Click the link below to enter.