The story behind 'How to be more hedgehog'

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Anne-Marie Conway

Author Anne-Marie Conway tells us about the real-life inspiration behind her new children's book about the pressures faced at school by a girl who stammers.

How To Be More Hedgehog by Anne-Marie Conway, for reading ages 9-12, tells the story of Lily, who has a stammer and is in the last year of primary school. When classmates post a video of her stammering during a school presentation, Lily experiences teasing and cyberbullying which sees her confidence take a nosedive.

We asked Anne-Marie Conway, who is also a primary school Drama teacher, to tell us why she wrote How To Be More Hedgehog. 

The story behind the book

The inspiration for the main character was Susie (not her real name). I first encountered Susie when she was six. I had just started a new job as a Drama specialist teacher at an all-girls primary school and Susie was in Year 1. She was extremely bright, chatty and confident and she loved Drama. Susie also had a stammer. Her stammer didn't stop her talking. On the contrary, she never stopped talking. As the Drama teacher, I got to teach Susie each year as she progressed through the school. I never thought of her as someone who had difficulty expressing herself. I only ever thought of her as someone who loved Drama and was very good at it.

But then in Year 6 everything changed. The other girls in Susie's class changed, Susie changed, and her stammer changed. I'm convinced the changes happened in this order. The other year 6 girls became more aware of themselves and of what was considered 'cool'. They began to find Susie's stammer embarrassing. They would become visibly uncomfortable when Susie struggled to get a word out. Susie, of course, picked up on this, and she began to feel stressed about speaking. As a result, she started to stammer more. And as a result of that, she began to withdraw, to spend more time on her own, to keep her (brilliant) ideas to herself.

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(Image courtesy of UCLan Publishing)

In my book, Lily, the main character, has a stammer, and when her trusted teacher Mrs Hansen leaves unexpectedly, and new teacher Mr Daley takes over, everything begins to change. Mr Daley does everything fast. He throws out a question and expects an answer quick, quick, quick. Like a boomerang. The other children find him fun and exciting, but for Lily this new pace is overwhelming. She yearns for Mrs Hansen — a teacher who 'asked a question and didn't mind how long it took to get the answer'.

Through teaching Susie, I learned that children can be confident without being fluent. That they must be given the space to express themselves however long it takes.

As a Drama teacher, I have been guilty of placing too much value on fluency. Children can stand on a stage and speak clearly with confidence. Children can express themselves and get their point across. Susie taught me a lesson I've never forgotten. It's not how you say something that matters. 

In How to be More Hedgehog, Lily runs away. She runs away from her friends who laugh at her, from the online bullies who poke fun at the way she speaks and from the class project that is giving her nightmares. But of course she soon realises that she can't run away from herself.

Over the course of the book, Lily learns some vital lessons about friends and family and speaking out. She learns how to grow some metaphorical 'spines' which give the courage to face her fears head.  

I learned a vital lesson too. Through teaching Susie, I learned that children can be confident without being fluent. That they must be given the space to express themselves however long it takes. And not just children who stammer. That it was my responsibility to facilitate this in my classroom. I learned to be the sort of teacher who asks a question and doesn't mind how long it takes to get the answer.

How to be More Hedgehog by Anne-Marie Conway is published by UCLan Publishing and is available to buy now. Read a parent's review of the book.