Hedgehogs in the Hall

Animal Ark [GB Order] #5

by Ben M. Baglio

When Mandy rescues a hedgehog family in danger, she knows that the wild creatures cannot stay long at Animal Ark, but she does not think it is a good idea to send them back into the wild, either. Original.

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction, Juvenile, Middle Grade

131 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 1994

About the author

Ben M. Baglio created the brief for two series of children's books - Dolphin Diaries and Animal Ark. Dolphin Diaries features a girl and her family from Florida, who travel around the world as marine biologists and study dolphins. Animal Ark features two children who work together to help animals and solve animal-related mysteries. The books were written by commissioned writers in the UK under Baglio's instruction using the pseudonym Lucy Daniels. Each ghostwriter is named with a 'Special Thanks' on the copyright page.

Using his real name he also wrote the book series The Pet Finders Club, featuring a group of three children who search for peoples lost pets.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Its about hedgehogs, if you have ever looked at my profile pics need I say more. I picked this up on a second hand shelf because of its title and cute illustrations but having read it, and it is quite evidently a children's book of course, i thought it really good.

It is one of a series of books written by Lucy Daniels under the heading 'Animal Ark' about a young vet's daughter and her two friends James and Claire, who get into all sorts of scrapes whilst lookling after different animals. The titles are things like 'Kittens in the Kitchen' and 'Donkey on the doorstep', 'Owl in the office'. This is the only one I have read but if it is anything to go by it would be a good series for children of 8/10 or so who are interested in animals and their adventures.

I am a hedgehog freak and study any adult book I can find about them (adult as in informative for adults not adult as in 'spike porn')but I found this was an excellently clear way of putting across facts and figures about hedgehogs, of quashing false ideas and theories and of explaining concisely and in a simple way the life cycle of the hog.

Basically it is about a mother hog and her four hoglets who are looked after by the children and then gradually released back into the wild. It is an excellent read for children and more impressively it is, though in the main a happy ending, not shy of facing up to the sad truth that nature does not always suceed in every case. In other words it reminds children that the lives of wild creatures are precarious and hard and not all hogs will cross the road safely.

Simple book, simple story, excellent present for a young reader.

[Katie (Kitkatscanread) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was interesting as it focused on just one story which was on the hedgehogs.
I learned quite a lot about hedgehogs in this book.
Near to the end there was a really sad bit that caught at my heart strings.
The ending and how it was wrapped up was really positive and made me feel happy.

[Samuel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up purely because it was about hedgehogs. As it happens, it's a charming piece of mid-'90s kidlit, all quaintly British and pleasant. I really liked it. Don't judge ;)

[Sheila (sheilasbookreviewer) · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of my 2nd graders wanted me to read this to the class as our class read aloud. He loves hedgehogs so I said I would. This was a cute book but didn't always hold the kids' attention. It had a nice story about three kids that work hard to save a family of hedgehogs. It was nice to read it one time, but I probably won't use this as a class read aloud again because it just didn't have enough action.

[Martina]

The fourth book I finished in German. I skimmed through the end, I felt like the plot in this one was slow, not much was happening. I didn't understand whether they wanted the hedgehogs to be free and wild or for them to stay at/repeatedly come back to Rosas Refugium but I probably skimmed through the part where they explained it. Not my favorite Lucy Daniels book, I feel like they could've cut a lot of the setting the hedgehogs free and instead introduced a more interesting subplot.

[Frances · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a chapter book for young readers. I am a big fan of hedgehogs and a friend found this copy at a library book sale and got it for me.
It is a sweet story and very informative about hedgehogs and helping them survive in the wild. And there are stickers at the end!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book

[Sue Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love the animal stories
especially the hedgehog
simple joys are the happiest books

[Katherine Walsh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story

[Mella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have fond memories of reading Animal Ark as a kid. Along with all the other series I'm revisiting at the moment, I've decided to set out to read all of Animal Ark. I know I read a hell of a lot of them but I know I didn't quite get through the whole lot.

Animal Ark follows Mandy and James two crazy obsessed animal lovers for work together to save all the animals in the world. Mandy is the adopted daughter of two vets and many books in the series revolve around her hometown of York and her parent's veterinary clinic - Animal Ark. James is her best friend and fellow helper/trouble maker. The series promotes responsible animal ownership, willingness to work hard for worthwhile goals and encouragement to lend a hand to family, friends and others in the wider community. Animal Ark is pure gold for young readers. Unfortunately they're a bit simple and a lot repetitive for adult readers but let's face it, those of us rereading are likely here for nostalgia than plot. Younger readers will find the series engaging, humorous, a little silly and lots of fun.

In Hedgehogs in the Hall a hedgehog family move into James' backyard but are accidentally disturbed while Mr Hunter is gardening. The mum and babies become separated and the mum gets hit by a car - thankfully it's the new doctor, Dr McKay. Dr McKay and Mandy work together to stabilize the hedgehog before Mandy takes the mum (she names her Rosa) to Animal Ark. I liked Dr McKay - him and Mandy worked well together - one providing the animal care and the other providing the medical. Dr McKay's daughter, Claire tries to help the babies but accidentally endangers them by touching them (a hedgehog mother may reject her babies if she smells human scent on them), thankfully the mother accepts them back. There's an amusing scene where they lose the hedgehog babies and they leave a food dish out to try to attract them back - which attracts every animal but the hedgehogs.

I like the message the Animal Ark books send about wild animals being free to be wild. Mandy, James and Claire are aware they have to release the hedgehogs into their natural habitat, but they worry that with the road so close to their run, they could be hurt. So rather than preventing the animals from being free, they work to come up with solutions to keep their natural habitat free of dangers. They make a sign to advertise that the road is a hedgehog crossing and warn drivers to slow down. They come up with a plan to create a hedgehog sanctuary in Claire's backyard - building hedgehog nests to help transition a hedgehog in care back to the wild. And they get some help from Simon (the Animal Ark vet nurse) and his friend that runs a wildlife radio program to tag and track the success of the project.

I liked the sign idea and I love that Mandy is once again manipulating Ernie Bell into helping her. This one wasn't as interesting as the previous books but it was an enjoyable read. 2 stars for me and 3 for target audience.

[A.R. Collins · Rating 3 out of 5]

We have Jenny Oldfield to thank for this book and, like her previous offering, Goat in the Garden, it's well written for the easy-to-read children's story that it is. It's unambitious, fairly educational and mostly cute, with the odd bit of grim realism thrown in - just what an Animal Ark book should be, in my opinion. The hedgehogs make for very good animal protagonists; each has his or her own personality, and through these, many little stories are woven through the overriding plot. The hoglets were much more engaging to me than Claire, the main human guest star, whose contribution I could take or leave. It was interesting to see practice nurse Simon take a more active role in this one, and made a change from Mandy's parents doing all the veterinary work. An overall solid contribution to the series, despite the forced reference to the title: the hedgehogs were only in the hall for a couple of pages, and they might just as well not have bothered!

[Mel Foster · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea of a series for kids about animals. But I didn't particularly like this book. The narrative voice is condescendingly condemning of the girl who "interferes" between babies and mother, but then the friends get narrative approval for a crazy plan which includes separately releasing babies and mother, plunking them down rather than releasing from home base nest box, and putting glowing radio tags on each one, clearly making them nighttime targets. It's amazing any of them survived really. Why such a ridiculous method of reacclimation is used is never explained.

[Sheryl · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very interested in Hedgehogs that is why I read this juvenile chapter book. This short little chapter book (part of the series Noah's Art- I think that is the series name) was a good story and had lots of simple information about hedgehogs. The story shows young children taking responsibility for identifying a problem, figuring out how to solve it and then putting that knowledge and passion into action, all very realistically. I enjoyed it and learned thinks as well.

[Kathryn G. · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for years and I've just never pulled it down. Finally my love of hedgehogs got the better of me, and I read it in less than two hours. It was very well written for a kid's book, and I remembered the characters from the Animal Ark series with surprising clarity as I went. The story was cute and inspiring, with just a touch of bitter reality to make it stand out. I liked it.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I was younger this was definitely one of my favorite Animal Ark books. It made me want to get a pet hedgehog, haha. This series is great for intermediate-advanced chapter book readers in elementary school.

[Twyla · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favorite part was when the hedgehogs were safe. the worst part was when the hedgehogs were in danger. my favorite character was mandy because she was nice and wanted to save the hedghogs. there was no worst character

[Ali · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mandy and James find an injured mother hedgehog. They have to look after her and her babies. When the mother hedgehog heals, they need to send them back into the wild. Can they find a way to do it properly?Read this book to find out.

This book is awesome! I really like it. You should read it.

[Shayma · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this one it made me nurves at time laugh at other but i truley enjoyd it.

[Rosie the Chicken Whisperer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I cried when they found Scout dead. Probably one of my favorite Animal Ark book!!

[Rea]

I really enjoyed this whole series as a child. Back then I'd devour each of the books as soon as I could get my hands on them.

[Sammy]

I was completely obsessed with this series of books when I was a child and my aim was to read every single book. They are a really good children's series.

[Kit Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the worst book of the whole series. It was dull and very boring when I read it as a child.

[Taylor Troncin]

Loved this series when I was younger. Still a huge animal lover and would like to read the rest of this series!

[Loopy Rosie · Rating 4 out of 5]

it was very interesting but sad in a good way.

[Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

awesomest book!!!!!! {do NOT own}

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

animal ark series

[Colleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quality story line that is simple, yet engaging. Both male and female main characters

[Charlotte Witts-York]

cute.

[Laney-may]

This book is great

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a review of the American edition. One day I will get the UK version as this is a very English book but until then, this will have to do.

When I first saw the cover, I assumed the hedgehogs that need Mandy and James' help this time were African Pygmy hedgehogs. They are the species depicted on the cover -- and subject of many adorable gifs, Facebook pages and memes. However, in the book, the mother and babies are wild European hedgehogs. Still cute, but not quite in the rock star of cuteness like African Pygmies.



Still, hedgehogs are amazing animals and they finally are given their due in this book. When I lived in the UK, I was surprised at how some native species were seen as vermin -- like the hedgehog. So helping a hedgehog Mum and babies were highly unusual for Yorkshire kids like James and Mandy. They, too, have to deal with misconceptions about hedgehogs. The book also lists some useful tips on what to do if you find a hurt or orphaned hedgehog. There are some good information on wild hedgehog behavior. This also is a more true-to-life animal rescue story as not all wild animals released back into the wild survive in the wild.



We are also introduced to a new family -- a doctor, wife and little daughter who makes trouble for the hedgehogs. I assume this family will play important roles later in the series, but that's just an assumption.

I'd love to know why some books in the Animal Ark series were published in American and some were not. It just seems like some books were not included at random. This book is very "English" in that it talks about English wildlife and love of radio programs. What radio program about wildlife would be listened to by kids in America? Nope -- can't think of one, either.

I recommend reading this a chapter or a few pages at a time. It's not a book to rush through but to enjoy at your leisure.