About the Book
Book: Darling Hedgehog Goes Down A Foxhole
Author: Auralee Arkinsly
Genre: Early reader chapter book
Release Date: September 13, 2019
About the Author
More from Auralee
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.
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