Review: Wishing to be something you're not
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 21, 2013
Author Mary Danino with fine assistance from her illustrator Rosario Laperal has created a very fine little children's book suggested for children ages 2 to 5 - but it has such a strong lesson that older children (and adults!) will relate to it, too.  It supports that fact that we should be the best that we can be as the one that we are and not wish to be something else just to supposedly please others.The main character of our adventure is Poddy, a hedgehog who is good hearted but who no matter what he does, snorts, squeaks, snuffles and purrs while he eats, sleeps or simply plays in the meadow. His friends - Squeaky (a baby Guinea Pig) Sniffy (baby rabbit) and Tiny (baby Deer Mouse) - are treated with berried Poddy picks until he falls and rolls down the hill on his spiky back. The grownups of his friends point out all the bad attributes of Poddy, and the disappointed Poddy tries to change who he is: he tries to rub the spines from his back (no luck), eats only strawberries as quietly as possible, but doing so makes him choke and his coughed up chewed berries hit one of the grownups. The grownups say Poddy must leave the meadow, despite the fact that his little friends want him to stay. But from his new, isolated area of the meadow, Poddy hears the hiss of Nasty the Snake ready to eat his friends, and Poddy rolls himself into a spike ball, saving his friends from danger. And so Poddy is loved for who he is and no longer feels the need to be something he isn't. He is the best hedgehog ever!Many lessons about self-esteem, about relating to friends and about appreciation for differences here. This is a well-written story with a different cast of characters brought to life by Laperal's excellent illustrations. Recommended. Grady Harp, September 13