The Hodgeheg by Dick King-Smith was first published in 1987. It is a short, funny and gently serious story about a young hedgehog called Max who is determined to solve the problem that kills so many hedgehogs — how to cross the road safely.
Max is a young hedgehog who lives with his family under a hedge near Number 5A at the edge of a park. The park is on the other side of a busy road, and Max desperately wants to cross it to reach the park’s gardens and the food there. His father Pa is sensible and experienced: he knows how dangerous the road is. Several hedgehogs in the family have already been killed trying to cross. Max is different — he is curious, determined and convinced that there must be a way across.
Max decides to try crossing the road himself. He is hit by a car and knocked on the head. He survives, but something strange has happened to his brain — when he tries to speak, his words come out muddled. He calls himself a ‘hodgeheg’ instead of a ‘hedgehog’. He says ‘wugs and slorms’ instead of ‘slugs and worms’. Everyone finds this funny, but Max himself is not bothered — he is still focused on the problem of crossing the road.
Rather than give up, Max keeps watching the road carefully, trying to understand its patterns. He observes the traffic and gradually notices that there are gaps — moments when it is safe to cross. He begins to work out the rules.
Max eventually works out how to cross safely: wait, watch, pick a gap in the traffic, then go quickly and directly. He crosses the road and reaches the park. But Max does not keep this knowledge to himself. He comes back and teaches the whole family how to cross safely — turning his personal discovery into something that helps everyone. The story ends with Max having solved the biggest problem in his hedgehog world.