The forest animals of Hedge Hollow open a classroom of their own when the humans leave for school. In Lauren Castillo's story, Hedgehog is the one friend with no subject to teach.

Readical Key Points

• An illustrated chapter book for ages 5 to 9, kindergarten through grade 4, with color pictures throughout
• Book 3 of the Our Friend Hedgehog series, written and illustrated by Lauren Castillo
• Starred reviews from Kirkus Reviews and from School Library Journal (the latter reviewed in the paperback edition); also reviewed in Booklist
• Hardcover, 128 pages, Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2026

Mole takes geography, Hen takes math, Owl takes reading and Beaver runs the shop class. Hedgehog wonders whether a teacher has to be an expert, and nothing she does seems expert enough to teach. Her friends pitch in with jokes and kind words while they work out a solution together. The story is about self-doubt and the friends who talk a worrier through it.

Parents, teachers and librarians can share it at bedtime or in a classroom over a few sittings. Families who met Hedgehog in Castillo's Our Friend Hedgehog: The Story of Us will find her back in Hedge Hollow. This time the schoolhouse runs on paws, feathers and a hedgehog still deciding what she knows.

About the Author

Lauren Castillo studied illustration at the Maryland Institute College of Art and earned an MFA from the School of Visual Arts. Her picture book Nana in the City received a 2015 Caldecott Honor, and her other books include The Troublemaker and Melvin and the Boy.

Condition: Brand New and Readical Ready.

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