I enjoyed this quick read story for young children about how Brizzy the honey bee asks her friend Hedgey-A for help. Hedgey-A is an unusual name for a hedgehog, but this makes a better rhyme than Hedgey. In HEDGEY-A AND THE HONEY BEES we see the two friends normally live happily in the fields, but farmers are using pesticides and the bees are falling ill. The brave hedgehog decides to venture on the train to London and seek help from the Queen.

I love that this dramatic tale involves not just the British countryside, but city landmarks, and people are brilliantly captured by Paul Winward in lively, simple illustrations. The teen girl taking a selfie on the train in perfect Instagram pose, the senior ladies knitting while eyeing a plate of scones dabbed with cream and jam. So real.

Awareness of the natural environment around us is vital, and bee colonies are in great trouble, so this book is extremely well timed and may start junior naturalists off to a good way of thinking about nature. Not only that, but the principles established are equally important. Kids can see that if they and their friends have a problem, they should tell someone they trust, who will then try to help them. Maybe this means going direct to the farmer, but that would only have solved the problem for the bees in one field. Hedgey-A wants to help all the bees. 

Author Ryan Mizzen has degrees in science and creative writing, and this is his first book, but he has previously been published in several newspapers and magazines.  HEDGEY-A AND THE HONEY BEES starts a series called ‘Time To Care’ which is a great message. Children, their families and educators will enjoy this little story and learn valuable lessons. Because we all need to care about others, and that makes the world work better.