HEDGEHOG’S SECRET

The motherly hedgehog who welcomed visiting friends in Tea For Ten (2000) is suddenly meeting them at the door with “ ‘I really don’t have time just now, / I hope you’ll understand somehow. / We’ll eat and play another day, / but now I have to go, okay?’ ” Soon Pig, little Teddy, Elephant, and Lottie, a human child, are lined up on the bench beneath Hedgehog’s window, wondering what’s up. Anderson’s pictures positively exude coziness; using fine lines and subdued colors, she places dot-eyed, childlike, clearly expressive figures, a mix of living creatures and animate toys, into a grassy, well-lit dooryard. At last, Hedgehog finishes her mysterious bustling about inside and reveals the cause of it all: a baby hedgehog (newly born? It’s not clear), brought out in a basket to be fussed over by one and all. “ ‘Welcome to the world. It’s a great place to be,’ ” says Hedgehog—and that’s the spirit that pervades this tender episode. (Picture book. 5-8)