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The Last Hedgehog
To mark and celebrate National Hedgehog Awareness Week, Pam Ayres has written a poignant farewell from ‘the last hedgehog left on earth’ – a delightful, and thought-provoking elegy to that most beloved inhabitant of the British countryside, the common hedgehog. Pam Ayres’ spiky and wonderful creation reminds us that unless we take steps to prevent it, they will soon be far from ‘common’'
Beautifully illustrated by Alice Tait, the poem sees our hero tell of all the terrible ends his family come to at our own hands - and exactly what we can still do to keep them alive, and see them thrive once more.
Beautifully illustrated by Alice Tait, the poem sees our hero tell of all the terrible ends his family come to at our own hands - and exactly what we can still do to keep them alive, and see them thrive once more.
- GenresPoetryShort Stories
44 pages, Hardcover
First published May 3, 2018
2 people are currently reading
115 people want to read
About the author
Pam Ayres
85 books38 followersPam Ayres is a poet and published author of children's books. Some of her published credits include Guess Who, Guess What, Piggo and the Fork Lift Truck.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
September 12, 2018
“Farewell, farewell, for what it’s worth
From the final hedgehog left on earth."
I love Hedgehogs. And like most of the natural world, they are totally inept at surviving in the modern environment. They fall down drains or drown in garden ponds, they get run over by cars or stuck in garden fences. They starve to death or die of thirst because of the extreme heat caused by global warming.
They are not made for the modern space: they are not made for the world we have altered. So it’s up to us to help them. We can cut holes in our fences and cover up our ponds. We can leave water out for them and drive more carefully. We can, collectively, do our very best for the declining wildlife of Britain (or for whatever wildlife your country has.) It’s not really hard to make a difference, small acts go a very long way and it can be a matter of life or death for something so small and harmless.
We need to act before we have nothing left, before we destroy everything. So many species have gone extinct just because of our presence on Earth. So this is a rather effective piece of poetry. It’s instructional, but it’s also very practical. I’d love to see poetry like this read in schools and taught to children. It’s an important issue, and this is a very creative way of carrying it across. It goes beyond just one animal, but reminds us of what should be our role in nature: that of a caretaker.
The illustrations are colourful and sit with the text perfectly. The two work together to impart a very important message. Please don't forget about it.
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From the final hedgehog left on earth."
I love Hedgehogs. And like most of the natural world, they are totally inept at surviving in the modern environment. They fall down drains or drown in garden ponds, they get run over by cars or stuck in garden fences. They starve to death or die of thirst because of the extreme heat caused by global warming.
They are not made for the modern space: they are not made for the world we have altered. So it’s up to us to help them. We can cut holes in our fences and cover up our ponds. We can leave water out for them and drive more carefully. We can, collectively, do our very best for the declining wildlife of Britain (or for whatever wildlife your country has.) It’s not really hard to make a difference, small acts go a very long way and it can be a matter of life or death for something so small and harmless.
We need to act before we have nothing left, before we destroy everything. So many species have gone extinct just because of our presence on Earth. So this is a rather effective piece of poetry. It’s instructional, but it’s also very practical. I’d love to see poetry like this read in schools and taught to children. It’s an important issue, and this is a very creative way of carrying it across. It goes beyond just one animal, but reminds us of what should be our role in nature: that of a caretaker.
The illustrations are colourful and sit with the text perfectly. The two work together to impart a very important message. Please don't forget about it.
Blog | Twitter | Facebook | Insta | Academia
May 17, 2019
An absolutely wonderful book.
I adore hedgehogs, always have, so when I saw a review here on Goodreads for this book, I knew I had to get it. It's a poem by Pam Ayres, beautifully illustrated by Alice Tait. The poem is both funny and very sad, talking about the plight of hedgehogs and the simple things people could do to help - an example being don't just stab a pitchfork into your compost heap at random; check for hedgehogs (or other animals) first. People merely being more thoughtful and paying a little more attention can make such a difference to wildlife preservation.
This has become a favourite of mine, and as it is such a quick, lovely read, I expect to return to it quite often.
www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk
Sorry I don't know how to make that a link (I'm using my phone and my skills are limited!) but that's the website listed at the back of the book if anyone is interested in checking it out! UPDATE: Apparently it turns into a link on its own! That's useful. 😊
Also I don't have a hedgehog emoji on my phone which is disappointing as it would be perfect to use here! 💟
I adore hedgehogs, always have, so when I saw a review here on Goodreads for this book, I knew I had to get it. It's a poem by Pam Ayres, beautifully illustrated by Alice Tait. The poem is both funny and very sad, talking about the plight of hedgehogs and the simple things people could do to help - an example being don't just stab a pitchfork into your compost heap at random; check for hedgehogs (or other animals) first. People merely being more thoughtful and paying a little more attention can make such a difference to wildlife preservation.
This has become a favourite of mine, and as it is such a quick, lovely read, I expect to return to it quite often.
www.britishhedgehogs.org.uk
Sorry I don't know how to make that a link (I'm using my phone and my skills are limited!) but that's the website listed at the back of the book if anyone is interested in checking it out! UPDATE: Apparently it turns into a link on its own! That's useful. 😊
Also I don't have a hedgehog emoji on my phone which is disappointing as it would be perfect to use here! 💟
February 25, 2022
“Farewell, farewell, for what it’s worth
From the final hedgehog left on earth."
From the final hedgehog left on earth."
December 28, 2018
Small. I wouldn't normally go five stars on a book this titchy and costing 6.99 but it's for a good cause. Also, it's Pam Ayres. Who doesn't like a bit of Pam Ayres? So break out the cash, throw it at your local bookseller and take this little book home with you for two minutes of readerly joy!
December 26, 2018
An important message about saving hedgehogs written in Pam Ayres' entertaining style with lovely illustrations. Lovely book.
December 17, 2018
This is great but also heartbreaking and I wasn't prepared for it!
May 12, 2019
Short, sweet, and making a point. "Farewell, farewell, for what it's worth from the final hedgehog left on earth."
July 5, 2018
A lovely little book from one of the nation's favourite poets and humourists.
Another reviewer called it "elegiac" and that sums it up beautifully. It will be an epitaph for a delightful little animal unless we take more care and give more practical help.
I have to declare an interest here - we feed up to 5 hedgehogs in our garden on a regular basis. They are SO much the gardener's friend.
Here, not only do we have Pam's poignant text, we also have some charming illustrations by Alice Tait.
Highly recommended! Well done, Pam Ayres.
Another reviewer called it "elegiac" and that sums it up beautifully. It will be an epitaph for a delightful little animal unless we take more care and give more practical help.
I have to declare an interest here - we feed up to 5 hedgehogs in our garden on a regular basis. They are SO much the gardener's friend.
Here, not only do we have Pam's poignant text, we also have some charming illustrations by Alice Tait.
Highly recommended! Well done, Pam Ayres.
May 22, 2019
Nice little book
January 3, 2020
Cute, sad and educational - with rhymes! What else can you ask?
December 25, 2022
This little book is so beautiful! I cried while reading it!
We must protect the hedgehogs! 🦔
We must protect the hedgehogs! 🦔
July 15, 2018
Beautiful pictures. Extremely sad and poignant
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 11, 2018
Lovely book. Humorous but serious at the same time. Don't want to loose our hedgehogs.
June 15, 2018
Originally blogged at: https://bookboodle.co.uk/2018/06/05/b...
I heard Pam Ayres on Graham Norton's radio show a couple of weeks ago talking about this book and I just wanted to buy it immediately. I've not read any kind of poetry since I was forced to at school so was really looking forward to something different.
"Farewell, farewell, for what it's worth
From the final hedgehog left on earth"
This is a super cute small book of poetry with stunning illustrations but with a serious tone at its heart. You really shouldn't laugh at some of the fates of the poor hedgehogs but they're too funny not to! In each line you can hear Pam Ayres' voice which just adds to its charm and enjoyment.
Despite its lovable child-friendly cover this isn't a book for young kids given that there's reference to hedgehogs having sexy time ;)
Overall, a very short enjoyable read - very short indeed at two lines per page, it took less than 10 minutes to read it. I'd hoped for something longer so maybe I'll pick up some more of Ayres' work in the future. Let me know if you have any recommendations.
I heard Pam Ayres on Graham Norton's radio show a couple of weeks ago talking about this book and I just wanted to buy it immediately. I've not read any kind of poetry since I was forced to at school so was really looking forward to something different.
"Farewell, farewell, for what it's worth
From the final hedgehog left on earth"
This is a super cute small book of poetry with stunning illustrations but with a serious tone at its heart. You really shouldn't laugh at some of the fates of the poor hedgehogs but they're too funny not to! In each line you can hear Pam Ayres' voice which just adds to its charm and enjoyment.
Despite its lovable child-friendly cover this isn't a book for young kids given that there's reference to hedgehogs having sexy time ;)
Overall, a very short enjoyable read - very short indeed at two lines per page, it took less than 10 minutes to read it. I'd hoped for something longer so maybe I'll pick up some more of Ayres' work in the future. Let me know if you have any recommendations.
April 30, 2018
Not to be mistaken for a children's book, Ayres' story of how we're slowly but surely killing off the hedgehogs of our world is told in a way that is humorous to read, but touches a nerve! I know that I will be thinking twice before mowing the lawn next time... A must read - if only to give us a kick start in ensuring that we don't actually lose our prickly little friends from this world!
January 29, 2025
Pam Ayres' delightful poem, beautifully illustrated by Alice Tait, 'The Last Hedgehog' sets out the pitfalls that the hedgehog meets while going about its everyday business. It is quite sad but Pam writes it in a humorous way in getting across what can be done to prevent the tragedies that happen that could result in the last hedgehog on earth.
Before the poem she explains how she fell in love with the hedgehog while walking to school in his native Berkshire and passing Hatford Warren, a large local wood, where 'every morning the road was littered with dead hedgehogs, run over in the night'. She found it 'awful to see'. Then a tragic accident in her own garden brought the hedgehog's plight forcibly home. There was an unobserved piece of string, complete with noose, hanging from her garden gate and one morning she went out to discover that a hedgehog had walked into the noose and had unfortunately been hanged. She was so upset that she had not noticed the string previously.
This was the catalyst for when in 1983 she heard about wildlife rescue centres and she met Les Stocker who pioneered Tiggywinkles, the first ever hospital for wild animals, followed by her discovering her own wildlife rescue centre, Oak & ?Furrow, founded by Serena Stevens in memory of her daughter Millie.
This encouraged her aim to encourage people to think about protecting the hedgehog as she knew that really 'hardly anybody wants to harm them'. And she goes on to offer suggestions to make that possible so that people, including her own grandchildren, would be able to appreciate the 'sweet and homely rounded prickly body' of the hedgehog so that there might never be a Last Hedgehog.
It follows that the poem highlights many of the problems encountered by the hedgehog, which while sad in their outcome, are presented with a tongue-in-cheek humorous slant and, along with the illustrations, it makes for a super and thought-provoking read. I will always look at the hedgehog in a different way from now on!
Before the poem she explains how she fell in love with the hedgehog while walking to school in his native Berkshire and passing Hatford Warren, a large local wood, where 'every morning the road was littered with dead hedgehogs, run over in the night'. She found it 'awful to see'. Then a tragic accident in her own garden brought the hedgehog's plight forcibly home. There was an unobserved piece of string, complete with noose, hanging from her garden gate and one morning she went out to discover that a hedgehog had walked into the noose and had unfortunately been hanged. She was so upset that she had not noticed the string previously.
This was the catalyst for when in 1983 she heard about wildlife rescue centres and she met Les Stocker who pioneered Tiggywinkles, the first ever hospital for wild animals, followed by her discovering her own wildlife rescue centre, Oak & ?Furrow, founded by Serena Stevens in memory of her daughter Millie.
This encouraged her aim to encourage people to think about protecting the hedgehog as she knew that really 'hardly anybody wants to harm them'. And she goes on to offer suggestions to make that possible so that people, including her own grandchildren, would be able to appreciate the 'sweet and homely rounded prickly body' of the hedgehog so that there might never be a Last Hedgehog.
It follows that the poem highlights many of the problems encountered by the hedgehog, which while sad in their outcome, are presented with a tongue-in-cheek humorous slant and, along with the illustrations, it makes for a super and thought-provoking read. I will always look at the hedgehog in a different way from now on!
April 10, 2019
I mean, me and my friends actually like this book, but maybe Pam Ayers should change the look. We were 11 years old at the library, and we saw this book. As a joke, we decided to read it because it looked like a children's book. However, as we began to read it, we started to realized that it was NOT a children's book. There are multiple pages where the author talks about murders of hedgehogs. (Cousin Henry young and bright, went up on flames on bonfire night.) Then, there is something else.. (Have found a gal, paid our respects, maybe had some cautious hedgehog sex?!) I kind of read this part out loud when one of my friend's dad was next to us. (Oops!) So yeah, it is a good book, but do NOT buy this for your children!! Multiple people have and given bad reviews because of it.
March 2, 2020
For those who know me and Tania, you'll know we have 3 African Pigmy Hedgehogs and are campaigners for the UK wild hedgehog, trying to raise awareness of their plight.
Well, in this little book, a lovely poem to the hedgehog, Pam Ayres joins the fight. The poem is an ode from the last ever hedgehog, telling of its friends and family and how they died in various horrific ways due to thoughtless human activity. It is a sad read, as you would expect, and hopefully it will change the minds and habits of at least a few people out there.
A lovely touch is a list at the end of ways you can help the UK hedgehog flourish.
Well done Pam Ayres, well done.
Well, in this little book, a lovely poem to the hedgehog, Pam Ayres joins the fight. The poem is an ode from the last ever hedgehog, telling of its friends and family and how they died in various horrific ways due to thoughtless human activity. It is a sad read, as you would expect, and hopefully it will change the minds and habits of at least a few people out there.
A lovely touch is a list at the end of ways you can help the UK hedgehog flourish.
Well done Pam Ayres, well done.
November 19, 2019
The book is cleverly done however it’s not very transparent that this book is unsuitable for children! This was bought as a present for my children (I assume based on the illustration) by a Grandparent and they had been reading it without me knowing the content. It only came to light when I was reading to my 4 year old that the content was unsuitable. She is now very upset that she can’t take this book to school because she loves the pictures so much. Why couldn’t this have had a sticker over warning that this was an adult themed book?
June 18, 2021
My sister bought a copy of this for my 5 year old thinking how sweet it was, and that we'd enjoy the illustrations but when she got it home discovered it was nary a child's book since it featured the untimely deaths (manslaughter) of our little prickly garden companions 😱 and also features hedgehog sex. I love the book all the same, and with some clever adjusting I can edit the contents somewhat for my child. Contains important guidance on how to help the little creatures live their life 💔🦔
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2024
A tiny little poem, in the form of a tiny little book, to match the tiny little creature that Pam Ayres asks the reader to consider in the everyday setting of suburbia. Prettily illustrated, this poem is a simple message to be a little more aware of how our actions impact these adorable creatures, and how we can employ simple strategies in our gardens to aid their continued survival.
April 4, 2025
I associate Pam Ayers with funny little poems with a sarcastic sense of wit - this is a little bit different. While the message is so important, I'm not sure that I could appreciate the humour - the author invites you to laugh at the poem, but I found it too sad. That said, this is a lovely little book with some nice illustrations and, as mentioned before, an extremely important message.
June 4, 2025
What a lovely little book!
As usual with Pam Ayres writing, it wraps home-truths within humorous rhyming verse.
It’s fun, funny, sweet and serious.
My garden is already hedgehog friendly but I know I could do more!
So I’m going to buy this book for family and friends, to help hedgehogs across the universe!
As usual with Pam Ayres writing, it wraps home-truths within humorous rhyming verse.
It’s fun, funny, sweet and serious.
My garden is already hedgehog friendly but I know I could do more!
So I’m going to buy this book for family and friends, to help hedgehogs across the universe!
June 25, 2018
I like hedgehogs and it's very sad they're dying out, but Ayres' I-wish-I'd-looked-after-me-teeth, Brechtian finger-flinging stirs no feeling in me other than anger at the amount I'm asked to pay for it. Extra star because the illustrations are nice.
July 8, 2018
Very clever way to get an serious point across. Pam Ayers witty words combine with Alice Tait’s beautiful illustrations to create a powerful message. It didn’t make me laugh though, just very sad.
August 2, 2018
Cute little book. It reads in about 5 minutes. Nice illustrations and great way to create awareness for the plight of the hedgehogs.
September 10, 2018
Sad but true. 😟
October 27, 2018
Heartbreaking! 💔
November 27, 2018
This isn a beautiful, poignant, funny and heart-breaking little book.
January 2, 2019
A beautiful piece!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews