The first in the internationally bestselling series of witty, moving and philosophical animal fables for adults.

'Only one question remains: is he a writer or a genius? I suspect the latter' De Morgen

'Toon Tellegen's stories provide endless pleasure' Die Ziet

'Moving and entertaining' De Volkskrant

The hedgehog is lonely.

So he writes a letter, inviting the animals of the forest to visit. But then he hesitates...

What if they all come at once? What if no one comes at all? What if they judge his prickles?

As doubts flood his mind, can anything save the hedgehog from himself?

"The spiky little mammals can never get close to each other, but this novel urges us to put away our prickles" - Sunday Times

"A woodland reflection on the perils of overthinking... all contained within a delightful little volume with line illustrations by Annemarie van Haeringen. Just as The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse threaded the line between adult and younger readers, so too has Tellegen written a tale that speaks equally eloquently to an audience of all ages... Those in search of a cosy, gently delivered philosophy will melt" - Financial Times

"Only one question remains: is he a writer or a genius? I suspect the latter" - De Morgen

"Toon Tellegen's short stories provide endless pleasure, because you can read them over and over, and then you have to read them out loud as well, again and again" - Die Zeit

"Moving and entertaining... As much as he twists, exaggerates, shrinks and fools around, he never hides his subject matter: recognizable behaviour and human emotions" - De Volkskrant