The Happy Hedgehog

by Marcus Pfister

Mikko the little hedgehog loved his garden. He knew all the animals that lived there. He knew all the plants and flowers too, and he enjoyed learning about their healing powers. He thought he was perfectly content—until the day Grandfather Tarek stopped by and told Mikko he was wasting his time. "Go take a look how others lead their lives!" Tarek tells him. So that's just what Mikko does.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Family, Gardening

32 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2000

About the author

Marcus Pfister was born in Berne, Switzerland, and began his career as a graphic artist in an advertising agency. In 1983, he decided to dedicate more time to artistic pursuits, and began to write and illustrate his first book, The Sleepy Owl, which was published in 1986. His best-known work to date is The Rainbow Fish, which has remained on bestseller lists across the United States since 1992.

Marcus does most of his illustrations for children's books in watercolors. He begins each book by stretching watercolor paper over a wooden board so that it won't warp when wet. He then copies his rough sketches onto the paper in pencil. At this point, he is ready to begin painting. For backgrounds and blended contours, he uses wet paint on wet paper to get a softer effect. For sharper details, he first lets the paper dry, then paints the final picture layer by layer. When the illustration is complete he cuts the paper from the wooden board.

For books that feature holographic foil stamping, he then tapes a piece of transparent film over the art and indicates with a black marker where the foil stamping should be. The foil stamping is then applied during the production process after the pages are printed and before the final binding.

Marcus and his wife, Kathryn, work together in Berne, where they live with their three children.

Reviews

[سیده فاطمه مطهری · Rating 3 out of 5]

تو ایران با اسم راهت رو انتخاب کن و با ترجمه سید مهدی شجاعی و از انتشارات نیستان منتشر شده
هدف کتاب اینه که به بچه ها یاد بده باید در زندگی هدف و برنامه ای داشته باشن

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classic Marcus Pfister book with adorable animals teaching children an important life lesson. In this case, Mikko the hedgehog is pushed by his cranky grandfather to go find something more productive to do than “just” watch his plants grow. He leaves his garden in order to discover what valuable pursuits other forest creatures have found and by the end, both he and his now not so cranky grandfather determine that watching and learning about plants is both an enjoyable and valuable activity. Youngsters as young as 2 or 3 will enjoy the illustrations but even most PK-1st graders may need it spelled out to them that each of us has a different calling in life and should never let anyone make us feel badly for following our own, unique path.

[Kristin Beachy]

Mikko is a hedgehog who lives in his garden and is perfectly content with life. One day his grandfather suggests that he should have a goal or hobby that is much like that of the other animals so that he fits in. This books confronts the issues of conformity and having your own unique and individual talents.

[Jennifer]

I used this book to talk about friendship and interaction with others. The children wanted to know more about hedgehogs. We went to the computer to find real pictures. The lesson took a different turn, but it was a great learning experience for the students *and* me. This lesson turned out to be child-guided all the way!

[Lanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

My mom gave this to my sister because she absolutely adores hedgehogs. :) I like the occasional picture book, so I read through this over morning coffee.

"The Happy Hedgehog" has a nice lesson about being happy with what you do now and how its ridiculous to be miserable now just so you can be happy later. (Pretty much why I decided not to go to college.)

& the illustrations were great. Full color and utterly adorable cartoon critters. :D

I really liked this. A good pick for slightly older kids. Like Maybe 2nd and 3rd graders. Or anyone who just loves hedgehogs.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mikko the hedgehog is very content, enjoying his garden home. But Grandfather Tarik accuses him of wasting time. “You should take advantage of your youth to accomplish something important, so you will be happy!” Mikko goes in search of happiness, but finds nothing to compare with his garden.

[Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mikko the little hedgehog was happy and content in his garden, and knew everything about it. However, his grandfather Tarek, told him he was wasting his time laying around. So Mikko went to see how the other animals lived. Mikko discovered that somethings are better when left the way they are.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

While there are probably many ways to look at this book, but I loved that is showed that there is value doing what you feel called to do. And there is value in really considering if what other people are doing is making them happy.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a hedgehog who's content, but told he shouldn't be. After going on a quest to discover what he's missing, he discovers he wasn't missing anything at all. He was doing something he loved, and it helped others, that's all that mattered.

[Alireza Emami · Rating 5 out of 5]

مفهوم انتخاب و گزینش در زندگی
ترجمه با عنوان "راهت رو انتخاب کن
خیلی قشنگ بود با تصویرگری زیبا

[Giselle Ates · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great lesson on finding joy and contentment. The only reasons I didn’t give it a five is that I didn’t like the portrayals of the grandfather and the school.

[Tara Humphries]

Great book for talking with children about acceptance of who you are, letting go of striving/perfectionism, etc... . I used in an elementary school Sunday School class.

[Hope Breighner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gorgeous illustrations!

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book suck a great theme

[skcocnaH · Rating 2 out of 5]

Grandfather Tarek is a jerk.

[Jackie Pilling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great reminder that being happy with your work already makes you successful.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author I think had a good idea to the story but to me, (and to my 2 year old granddaughter that usually sits through long stories just fine) the story just didn't have what it needed to really be a good story. However, like I said the storyline was a good one. The hedgehog is happy with his life knowing what he knows with his garden and life around him. His grandpa comes around and is grumpy and tells him he's lazy and not learning anything or doing anything with his life. So Mikko sets out to see what everyone else is doing with their lives. He encounters a turtle trying to run as fast as he can, a rabbit that went to school but didn't understand what the teacher was teaching him but memorized things, and a few other animals. None of this make Mikko understand why would you try and do something repeatedly to make yourself happy. If what you are doing isn't making you happy then change and do something else. So he returns to his garden and his grandpa is there not feeling well. Mikko makes him some herb tea with all his knowledge of his herbs his grandpa realizes that Mikko is happy and he has done things with his life because he learnt about those things around him but most of all he realizes Mikko is happy.

This book isn't for a beginning reader, a moderate reader could make it through on their own. But due to the 'choppy'ness of the storyline it's not a good book to read outloud for a young listener either. HOWEVER it would be a good 'teaching' tool for possibly 2nd or 3rd grade to have read to them and have them write essays or answer questions how they felt about how Mikko thought of the situations, or even how they felt Grandpa tried to influence Mikko by things HE felt Mikko should do when all in all Mikko was happy.

[Monika · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Happy Hedgehog" on lugu väikesest siilikesest Mikkost, kes armastab oma aeda ja taimede raviomaduste tundmaõppimist. Ta vanaisa ei pea seda tõsiseks tegevuseks ja nii lähebki Mikko maailma avastama ja uurima, millega teised loomad tegelevad. Teel kohtub ta kilpkonnaga, kes plaanib maailma kõige kiiremaks kilpkonnaks saada ja usinalt trenni teeb; jänest, kes õpib, et targim olla, aga õpitavast midagi ei taipa; mäkra, kes tahab kõige tugevam olla ning sipelgaid, kes lihtsalt oma tööd teevad. Loomadega kõneldes, taipab Mikko, et ta ongi tegelikult juba õnnelik, ega vaja oma ellu enam midagi uut. Rõõmsalt läheb ta koju tagasi.
Armas raamatuke, mis on hetkel mu tütre lemmik, olen seda juba lugematu arvu kordi õhtujutuks lugenud. Kindlasti on selles ka mingi õpetussõna sees, aga tegelikult ei hooli ma sellest, piisab, et peategelaseks on siil ja pildid ilusad.

[Kalynda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grabbed this book from the library, on the search for "The Rainbow Fish" (same author). Both the title and the cover, not to mention the author, caught my eye. And, while I have read so many amazing picture books this year, this one makes my Top Ten list. It reminded me of a story I heard, I think on the radio, about a teacher asking young students what they wanted to be when they grew up, and a student wrote, "happy". Absolutely! Is that really what it is all about? "The Happy Hedgehog" is a timely book, especially in our current state, even my own too many times, of confusing productivity with happiness. Or confusing another person's passion with our own.
This is a perfect book for my reflective state as the year comes to the close, and as I look forward to well...happy.

[Philitsa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a cute and warm tale for the preschool set that introduces them to the life philosophy that it is a journey, not a destination. Throughout the story, the content hedgehog meets other critters that are busy trying to be superlative in one skill. None of them are happy, but they're banking on becoming happy once they become the best at what they are doing. The hedgehog comes to the conclusion that it's better to be happy while you're doing something not when you get to the end of it. He also teaches his grumpy old grandpa a thing or two. Cute story, good message.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mikko is just happy in his garden taking care of his flowers and herbs. But he has a grumpy Grandfather who berates him for being useless and not having enough ambition. So Mikko sets out to meet other animals and tries to emulate the ones his thinks have the ambition his grandfather wants him to have. But in the course of his adventures, he discovers he is not happy at all and neither are the animals that are working so hard to reach their goals.

He returns to his garden and gently introduces his grandfather to value of his lifestyle.

Very pleasant illustrations.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The hedgehog is cute. Of course, so is the running turtle. :-) Sweet story with the message that you don't have to be the best to find happiness. For an adult the lesson might be a bit obvious, but maybe not so much for the younger audience. The length works well for a Book Time. And the pictures are nice and fill the pages. A definite possibility that very broadly thus very well fits the theme.

[Cheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mikko is happy in his garden, but Grandfather insults him and thinks he should "do something." Mikko travels and watches busy bunnies and training turtles, but decides to return to the joys of his garden. Happily, Grandfather now sees that Mikko's love and in owledge of plants and insects is "something" after all.
Wasn't really crazy about it, to tell the truth.

[Trisha Stragand · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book teaches students to have ambition and work hard. However, it also teaches students to be happy with your life and not try to be like someone else. This is a wonderful story to reinforce self-esteem.

[Mandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mikko the hedgehog is a happy hedgehog who loves to relax and observe nature. His grandfather questions how he can be happy if he never does anything. So Mikko sets off to see if staying busy like the other animals will make life more enjoyable.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

We loved the story of little Mikko. He learns (and helps teach his grandfather) many lessons.

Life is not a destination, it is a journey. Enjoy the wonderful things.
You don't have to compete with others. Just be yourself.
Being a life long learner.
Share what you love with others.

[Rhiannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my all time favorite books. Remember that true happiness comes from within.

[Rose]

E Pfi

[Dane Jackson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lily seemed to enjoy this story.

[Erin Mahollitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mini-lesson on cause and effect when well (kind of a domino effect in the events)

Good book to address the following PYP Attitudes and Learner Profile Attributes:
-