#326 of 1001 · June 22, 2021

There’s a delightful mixture of humor and heart in The Hedgehog Boy, a Latvian folktale retold by Jane Langton and illustrated by Ilse Plume. A farmer and his wife dearly wish for a child. The mysterious and benevolent Forest Mother gifts them with a basket, which they later discover contains a baby boy covered in prickles like a hedgehog. Known as “the hedgehog boy”, this lad grows up to marry the king’s youngest daughter, along the way revealing a number of hidden talents, including the tending of pigs and the wrangling of roosters. Langton’s engaging prose and Plume’s illustrations (evocative of Latvian folk art) create a merry and winning blend. A note for folklore enthusiasts: the plot of this Latvian story is recognizable as a variant of “Hans, My Hedgehog”, a fairy tale collected in Kinder- und Hausmärchen by the Brothers Grimm. #hedgehog #boy #princess #king #rooster #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks