Our most recent bedtime book finished, we had to share this brilliant book! Both me and Riley loved this one and couldn't wait to get to reading another chapter or three of a night time!

We have had a few disappointments in our bedtime story telling lately but this one saved the month for us and got us back on track. It is so great to see more books coming out that have children with a range of SEND and additional needs - in this story the main character Lily, has a stammer. Riley is full of empathy and understanding - he has a mum with a range of disabilities and has visited my classroom (I'm a SEND teacher) and loves coming to see the children - but this story still gave rise to some great conversations.

As well as her stammer, Lily struggled with many things that a lot of kids do today - cyber bullying, a parent's break up and trouble with her best friend for starters! The story was brilliantly told and is perfect for kids aged 8-12, to read together or by themselves.

Loved this middle grade book about a girl with a stammer. I loved the family dynamics and how Lily struggled but ultimately learnt a lot of stuff about herself

Touching on so many different issues facing children today, this book would be a great addition to any school or class library. Lily has a stammer which, as the book goes on, winds up being the reason she is bullied online. As well as these two themes, Lily's parents are divorced and this causes issues in their family with her older brother Dillon.

It is nice to find a book with a main character who stammers - teachers are always on the lookout for inclusive texts.

The theme of nature throughout the book is also really well written, with facts about hedgehogs at the start of every chapter, as well as the intertwined love of nature portrayed by Lily and her father.

So cute and actually really good read.

Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this book in exchange for my review.

This book was in different ways: cute, emotional and powerful. It had lots of animal facts with different illustrations of hedgehogs at the start of each chapter, which was just adorable and Lily was such a sweet character who was really easy to emphasise.

It was emotional because of the things Lily went through, some parts I actually wanted to cry because of how cruel the other children were. Even at the start of the book when the adults were just talked to her, I wanted to yell at them because they kept interrupting her and talking over her. It was heart-breaking.

And it was powerful. Just seeing her learn to be brave and to put herself out there, to be more hedgehog was so beautiful. And it didn't have the ableist notion that she had to cure her stammer in order to get there.

A must for any child with a love of animals.

(Just a Heads up, the ISBN Number for this book is: 9781912979813)
Every chapter begins with a lovely illustration and a Hedgehog fact. The story revolves around Lily (year 6) who has a stammer - words beginning with P and D are particularly tricky for her. Lily's parents have recently separated and her dad is living in Scotland with his newly pregnant partner and Lily lives with her mum and brother. Conway handles Lily's stammer and her family issues with empathy and understanding. Conway takes us through Lily's friendship struggles at school, trying to find her place within a new friendship dynamic., Lily's issues at home bleed into her school life once her brother sends Lily's video effort to rid herself of her stammer to his friend - which makes her so-called friends torment and name-call her further. Lily also has to navigate issues at home with her brother and his response to their father's new life - this is all sensitively handled by the author.
A recommended read.
(Thanks to Net Galley for this Book).

Having read Anne-Marie’s stories in the past I know that this is a writer who I enjoy reading, and How to Be More Hedgehog didn’t disappoint. It’s a gorgeous story, and very uplifting.

Lily has a stammer, and this has been handled with empathy and understanding, and in a way that many young readers will relate to. The story deals with friendship and family issues, and bullying.

I love the hedgehog facts throughout; they added an extra layer of enjoyment to the story.

Lily is such a lovely character and I’m sure many readers will see aspects of themselves in her. It’s a well written story and very accessible. I can highly recommend this story for readers ages 8 and up.

This is a really nice book to read, the story is very well written and easy to follow.

Lily has a stammer and finds it difficult to communicate with others and its getting worse, so when the new teacher sets a project for her class and she has to team up with her ‘best friend’ to create a presentation about the climate, Lily is worried.

Lily discovers her love of all that nature has to offer and is determined to take part in the presentation, but it all goes wrong when she records herself speaking and someone uploads it to social media and Lily then finds out what her so called best friend and others think of her stutter.

It is really heart-breaking reading this as a mother and you feel yourself really wanting to reach out and give Lily a hug and help her out. Lily however is a strong character and she copes by herself. (Which does not mean that I’ve forgiven the other characters in the book to treat her like this!) as you may have found out by now, is that I’m quite invested in this story.

This book shows how complicated emotions are in real life and how you can feel more than one feel at the time. This is a sensitive book and it is written so sympathetically to Lily. It deals with bullying, toxic friendships, cyber bulling and humiliation. This is an excellent book and I will recommend it to anyone, as it really is a great read!

Lily has a stammer. The signal between her brain and her mouth is all messed up - and it's getting worse. When a video of her practicing her class presentation is uploaded onto YouTube . Lily's nightmare begins and she moves to her fathers house she try and get away from her speech problems.
I read this book over the course of bedtime with my son. It's a great book for introducing and highlighting the topic that everybody is different and also everybody has feelings. I really enjoyed the style of writing

A thoroughly enjoyable middle-grade book all about 'finding your brave'!

Lily, the main character of 'How to be More Hedgehog', is a young girl suffering with a stammer and a less than perfect home life. Her older brother and his misbehaviour takes up all of her mother's attention, and her beloved dad has moved away to Scotland. On top of that, she has a new teacher in school who loves to get the class to speak aloud - which she very much struggles to do. But Lily finds comfort in learning about nature as well as researching how people, herself included, can help save the planet. This aspect of her is written so well that it's easy to imagine the thousands of kids who will read this book finding themselves with an interest in the environment.

The title of this book interweaves brilliantly with the plotline, and sends a great message about how kids (and adults!) can become happier and more confident, without necessarily changing what they perceive as their faults. Each chapter also links to the title with them all having their own hedgehog illustration and fact that relates to the plotline.

I fully recommend this book and can't wait to hear what other readers think of it. It's also made me desperate to read more of Anne-Marie Conway's books!

(Also, just to leave one final point, it was very refreshing to have a child protagonist react positively to the dad-has-a-new-girlfriend-who-is-pregnant plotline. Lily's relationship with both her dad and Abi is beautiful and their scenes were some of my favourites in the story!)

This book was absolutely amazing. Lily struggles with her stammer and then people who are supposed to care about her let her down in the worst way. She is so brave and finds new people who do look out for her.
This book had me in tears and I was so upset about everything that she went through. I like the message dad gives her when she goes to stay and its definitely something that I try to teach children who have issues like Lily.
This book is well written and easily accessible for children and will hopefully leave them thinking more about our planet, differences and how to respond online.
I loved all the hedgehog facts too.

How to be more Hedgehog by Anne- Marie Conway

This is a really lovely book, it’s the story of Lily who returns to school after a break to discover a new teacher who is mixing things up.. Lily has a stammer and finds it difficult to communicate with others and its getting worse, so when the new teacher sets a project for her class which means teaming up with her ‘best friend’ to create a presentation about the climate, Lily is worried.

Lily discovers her love of nature and is determined to take part in the presentation but it all goes wrong when she records herself speaking and someone uploads it to social media and Lily then finds out what her best friend and others think of her stutter.. and Lily..


Its really sad and you feel yourself really wanting to reach out and give Lily a hug.. it all seems too much for someone so young but Lily is a strong character and she leans to cope and prosper by herself.

I think the one thing I took away from this book is that emotions are complicated and you can feel more than one at a time, Lily’s brother Dillion is angry and hurt and frightened after the breakdown of their parents’ marriage and unfortunately makes some really bad choices regarding poor Lily.

Lily is such a lovely character who just wants to be the same as her friends and stop standing out as different not realising that it is ok to be different.

This is a sensitive book and it is written so sympathetically to Lily and as an older reader i really wanted to sweep in and save Lily, it deals with bullying, toxic friendships, cyber bulling and humiliation…

This is an excellent book and I will recommend it to anyone as it is suitable to all.


#Netgalley #HowtobeMoreHedgehog #Childhood #Nature

How to be more Hedgehog is a wonderfully written novel aimed at children 8+.
Every chapter begins with a lovely illustration and a Hedgehog fact. The story revolves around Lily (year 6) who has a stammer - words beginning with P and D are particularly tricky for her. Lily's parents have recently separated and her dad is living in Scotland with his newly pregnant partner and Lily lives with her mum and brother.
Conway handles Lily's stammer and her family issues with empathy and understanding. Conway takes us through Lily's friendship struggles at school, trying to find her place within a new friendship dynamic., Lily's issues at home bleed into her school life once her brother sends Lily's video effort to rid herself of her stammer to his friend - which makes her so-called friends torment and name-call her further. Lily also has to navigate issues at home with her brother and his response to their father's new life - this is all sensitively handled by the author.
A recommended read.