The Very Helpful

Hedgehog

Published as an eBook in the United Kingdom in 2020

Pavilion Children’s Books, an imprint of

Pavilion Books Company Ltd.

43 Great Ormond Street

London

WC1N 3HZ

www.pavilionbooks.com

Design and layout © Pavilion

Text and illustrations © Rosie Wellesley

The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be

reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any

form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying,

recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of

the copyright owner.

ISBN 9781843655022

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the

British Library.

Digital Editor: Renata Jukic

This book can be ordered directly from the publisher online at

www.pavilionbooks.com

The Very Helpful

Hedgehog

Rosie Wellesley

Isaac the hedgehog lived a quiet life under

the tree by the paddock and never spoke

to anyone.

He never helped anyone and no one ever

helped him. He liked it that way.

One afternoon he was feeling sleepy.

He had been for a walk on his own,

caught a grub and eaten it, alone.

Isaac had just settled down for a nap

in a pile of old leaves when…

Something had landed on his back

and he couldn’t get it off.

and tried some more...

a

n

d

t

r

i

e

d

a

g

a

i

n

.

..

H

e

t

r

i

e

d

t

o

s

e

e

i

t

.

.

.

“What

is

it?”

he

cried.

He looked up.

An apple!

It must be an apple, he thought.

The apple was stuck.

The apple was very stuck.

The more Isaac tried to get it off,

the more it stuck onto his back.

He cried so hard he didn’t hear the voice above him.

“Hmmm, an apple. At last an apple

has rolled into my paddock.”

Oh no, he thought,

and started to cry.

I have no one to help me!

“Who are you? Why were

you under my apple?”

asked the donkey.

Isaac said nothing.

“I do so love

apples. That was

my first in a very

long time.”

Still Isaac said nothing.

So the donkey kept talking,

“Apples with custard,

apple pie, toffee apples,

apple crumble!

Oh joy! OH JOY!”

“Do you like apples? You must.

Everyone must! So sweet!

So crunchy!”

“Gala apples,

Granny Smith,

Irish Peach,

Honey Crisp.

Golden Supreme,

Golden Delicious,

Braeburn, Bismarck, Jonalicious.

Gilpin,

Franklin,

Cindy Red,

Cox’s Orange and Cat’s Head.

Such feasts!

Such appley treats!

So many different types to eat!”

Isaac still said nothing.

Isaac didn’t know what to say.

He turned around

and walked back to

his pile of leaves.

He did not have any friends.

He had never helped anyone and, until now,

no one had ever helped him.

He liked being on his own.

He was just getting comfortable when...

He thought about

the donkey.

Isaac looked at

the apple.

He thought about how

the donkey couldn’t

reach the apples.

And then he thought,

perhaps…

Perhaps being alone isn’t

so great after all.

F

o

r

O

l

,

w

h

o

c

o

o

k

e

d

&

C

a

i

,

w

h

o

s

l

e

p

t

~