Written by the late brother of a very good friend of mine and definitely one for my collection of hedgehog story books, today its my pleasure to share ...

Harvey the hedgehog has a problem 

- how can he crosss the road without getting run over?have the right answer?

Lots of woodland folk offer him all sorts of advice and help, but nobody seems to have the right answer ... That is, until he meets Ernie the brainy badger, Nat the fat brown rat and Maxwell Mole - the fabulous  Handy Lads. {Back Cover Blurb}

Harvey was a VERY worried hedgehog. {First Sentence, Page un-numbered} 

What to do when you can't cross the road without getting squashed?

Hmm!

You could of course stay on the same side of the road forever where its completely safe as the snooty old owl points out but then as Harvey rightly points out he has to cross the road sometime as he has relatives over there and he visits his Grandma every Sunday for tea. 

With cousin Winston now a dead, flattened hedgehog and the fact that 'nobody worries about a few spiky little creatures on the motorway ... They just vroom over the top of us and we're completely squelchified', coupled with Fergus {a fox, illustrated with an obviously dead fox in his jaws} remembering 'coming home with a nice juicy hen one night' ...

Written by a man whose love, knowledge and concern for modern country living {yes, even Ernie the badger has a mobile phone, 'a new, bright-red mobile phone'} shines through, Henry Brewis doesn't shy away from incorporating the lives {and deaths} of his animal characters into this story; writing of the dangers, both natural and man-mad, that they face. 

Perhaps not a read for very young or particularly sensitive children ... or indeed for those adults not yet ready/wanting to answer any of the questions that might be raised as a result of reading the book..

Speaking for myself ...

A great introduction to some of the small animals and birds to be found in our countryside.

The wonderful story of a diverse group of countryside critters coming together to solve a problem with illustrations that are very realistic and yet at the same time have a cartoon like look that I found hugely appealing. I thought Harvey And The Handy Lads an incredibly engaging read that raised the issue of traffic on country roads. 

ABOUT HARVEY AND THE HANDY LADS ... 

GENRE: Children's illustrated book featuring animals

Standalone story

NUMBER OF PAGES: 48

PUBLISHER: Farming Press {Distributed in North America by Diamond Farm Enterprisers

ABOUT HENRY BREWIS ... Born near Alnwick, Northumberland in 1932, Henry Brewis was one of a clan of farmers in the area. He spent much of his life running a mixed arable and livestock farm at Hartburn, near Morpeth, Northumberland. In the 1970s he began drawing cartoons and writing regularly for farming magazines, including the West Cumberland Farmers Journal, regional NFU journals and Livestock Farming. Booklets of his collected pieces were immensely popular. Farming Press issued the first of Henry's full collections of cartoons in 1983. Funnywayt'mekalivin' was the star attraction of that year's Smithfield Show when Henry signed copies on the Farming Press stand. Henry sold his farm on a lease-back arrangement and began to devote more time to writing and drawing. A small industry grew up around him, with Christmas cards, licensed prints, statuettes, decorated beer mugs, tee-shirts and audio-tapes. He was also in demand as an after-dinner speaker. In his youth Henry had been a keen cricketer, fielding at silly mid-off, and despite many years of illness he continued to enjoy sport, particularly golf. Henry died in 2000 leaving three children and two grandchildren.

Find more of Henry Brewis' books here on GoodReads.

BUY THE BOOK ... ~ Amazon UK ~ Book Depository~ Waterstones ~ 

Book cover and illustrations {copyright of Henry Brewis} photographed by myself.