Celebrating Christmas Books 2024: Author Interview with Ian Humpheryes

Today I'm featuring a children's book author who will tell you about his Christmas stories featuring a special animal. Read on to learn why he writes about hedgehogs.
Although I now live near the coast, when I was much younger, I lived in the countryside and that's where I first encountered hedgehogs on their evening/night time rambles, with their distinctive snorting sounds and constant rustling of leaves as they hunt for food. They always seemed timid and would roll into a defensive ball when approached. Not seen as something scary at all.. When I moved away, I discovered that hedgehogs (like foxes) have made the transition to urban life and quite wel. They are constant visitors to my garden hunting for pests and any tidbits they can scavenge. These animals don’t get a lot of positive recognition and most people sadly only see them when they are run over (far too often) crossing our busy roads. 

Tell me a bit about your hedgehog series.

My book series is titled Tales from The Bluebell Woods. The books tell about the animals that call this beautiful place home.  The main characters explore their life of friendship, love and resourcefulness with a bit of humour thrown in for good measure. The Little Hedgehog is the main character in each plot and his interaction with other friends create the narrative.

The Christmas Hedgehog was the first story of the series where the hibernating Little Hedgehog (curled up warmly in hollow log) awoke for the first in late December and discovered to his great surprise and excitement something called Christmas. The story takes the reader on a path of discovery with the Little Hedgehog as he visits each of his woodland friends and learns more about the festive season whilst accidently gathering items to make his own Christmas special. 

The story finishes with the cold weather coming back in and the Little (now very content) Hedgehog settling down to sleep again for the remainder of the winter. At end of each book there are facts relating to the story to be shared with an adult so hopefully further interest can be generated for the young reader.

In the other books in this series, the Little Hedgehog and friends find challenges from extreme weather, mysterious visitors, and even a Halloween special. However, I particularly love Christmas and a second Christmas book had to be written. Thus The Little Hedgehog’s Second Christmas became the newest book published. This story begins with a Hedgehog determined not to sleep through Christmas. When he awakes he wants to find the perfect present for each of his friends. Things do not go as well as expected but on Christmas Eve a very special visitor arrives and the next day is amazing. The theme is the joy of giving at Christmas and how that makes it the most wonderful time it is. Fun facts about Christmas are included at the back of the book plus a message to everyone from the animals of the Bluebell woods.

What are some of your favorite Christmas traditions?
Christmas is a very special time for our family, we love to decorate the house inside and out and leading up to Christmas. We make lots of homemade Christmas goodies, such as sweets, cakes and biscuits for our children (grown up now but they still love to come over for this season). When the children were small, we would go and cut our own Christmas tree from a nearby farm. The tree then took centre place in our house. We never take the decorations down before twelfth night as there are twelve days of Christmas to enjoy and we make sure we do just that.

Are there other books you'd like to tell my readers about?
My other book series  is called Somewhere between the Land and the Sea. It tells about the wonderful marine animals living in a tidepool and their adventures. I am a marine biologist by profession so it was an obvious choice for story material. Currently I am toying with the idea of writing a series based around the bugs and creatures that live in a vegetable patch in my garden. For this one, I'll be using a cut-out paper method of illustrating the stories. Early results look promising!

What do you know about writing now that you wish you had known sooner?
If I was starting from the beginning again, I would definitely join some of the useful groups I have found, particularly before publishing, for their advice as it is so easy to make simple mistakes. I enjoy learning new things, thus while the path was slow and painful at times to getting a book finally finished and published, the actual experience was really rewarding and good for older authors like myself to keep their minds fresh and active. My advice is when you see something you like, then learn how to do it yourself!

Living by that concept, I have created my own Youtube channel where I showcase the videos I've made about my books. You'll find my own narrated version of The Christmas Hedgehog with pictures, simple sound effects, and animations  -- if anyone would like to try one of my books for free.

That's all for today's interview. If you'd like to learn about his books, here are some links to get you started.

If you'd like to read along (for free) with one of his books as it is being narrated, go to 
https://youtu.be/NTajjiaFxtw?si=b14SvDw8fQ7JRNvV

YouTube channel: For mini views on other books
www.youtube.com/@ianhumpheryes8804

Facebook: facebook.com/profile.php?id=61559563120202
Amazon Author page: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Ian-Humpheryes/author/B0CCS7ZHDN