Marissa Valdez had me at “hedgehogs,” but hedgehogs and underwear? That’s kidlit gold. I was there. I was ready.
Hedgehogs Don’t Wear Underwear (20225) is Valdez’s first picture book of her own, she’s illustrated a number of other books, and it shows. The images are vivid, and the presentation striking. Images change size, some words are large, some small, some cursive, some in black ink, some in red, and they fill the page in a striking, engaging layout.
The core of the story is that hedgehogs don’t wear underwear…but Jacques the hedgehog does, and he has to come to terms with this, first personally, and then in a gathering of animals (mostly hedgehogs). The sections where Jacques is imagining all the horrible things the other hedgehogs might do if they learned is especially engaging.
I like the book’s core message of self and community acceptance, but I have to say, the book did feel a bit preachy at the moment when Jacques admits his secret (not just wearing underwear, but when he doesn’t wear them, “there’s a big underwear-shaped hole” in his heart.
That point aside, this was a visual joy.
