A Bloomsbury canvas Book

Rudyard Kipling's story has a really nice gentle rhythm to it and is beautiful read aloud. The story seemed unique- at least I had never heard it before despite being a rather typical literary form of explanation of natural phenomena. It was really delightful to read something that felt fresh but still traditional. Charles Keeping's illustrations are lovely but unfortunately seem to be presented out of order with the scene of Stickly-Prickly Hedgehog learning to swim a scene or two before it happens in the book. The illustrations also seem a little bit passive, as there are not enough of them to carry the story forward, as in a picture book. It seems a shame that the really nice pairing of Keeping and Kipling is hampered by poor book design and too few illustrations due to this being a more budget-minded reader. Since the text is much more appropriate to a read aloud, containing large words and exquisitely crafted phrases, I really wish that this had been published as a full-fledged picture book.