Dr Hedgehog and the River Rescue by Jerry Mushin

Dr Hedgehog and the River Rescue by Jerry Mushin
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Dr Hedgehog picture book series is intended to be read aloud to young children. Both the readers and the listeners will enjoy the stories. There are common characters, but each story can be read independently of the others. In most of the stories, Martin Mouse finds himself in awkward situations but Dr Hedgehog, usually with the help of other animals, is always able to assist. Children will recognise their mothers in Mavis Mouse, who worries about her son and is always greatly relieved when he arrives home safely. In this story, Martin Mouse walks across a frozen river and falls through the melting ice. He cannot get out. How does Fred Frog help Dr Hedgehog to get him to the edge of the river?

Unfortunately out of all 3 in the series this book was liked the least. Just like the other books in this series we meet Martin mouse and Dr Hedgehog. Martin mouse is excited about the weather, it has snowed and it has been the first time it has snowed since last year. His mother warns him about the ice and tells him to remember to take the bridge. Of course Martin mouse decides to ignore her warning.

The illustrations are the same as the others in the series, which I was not keen on. They seem a little simple and could have been portrayed a lot better in my opinion.

This book out of the series seems to be the most random, Dr Hedgehog decides to throw Martin mouse a sandwich while he waits, which seems a little strange to me. I am also a little disappointed with the moral in this book. Martin mouse is hoping no one tells his mother he ignored her advice to cross the river, which seems a little deceiving to me. The book also seemed to end a bit abruptly, it would have been good to see what Martin's mother would have made of him ignoring her. I think if it had shown that and depending on how she would have dealt with his behaviour I would have been able to give this a higher star rating.

I read this to my class and they were a little underwhelmed with the story. They didn't have a lot to say about it. I think perhaps younger children would like this book, maybe 4 or 5 year olds.

I would like to thank the publisher for sending this in exchange for an honest review.