Parents in Merseyside were shocked to discover that paper hedgehogs, handmade and distributed to children as a charity gesture, were crafted from pages of an explicit erotic novel. The creations, made by an older man, were given to children in local shops, but some parents found the content inappropriate.
Discovery of Explicit Content
Linda Fortune, whose four-year-old granddaughter received one of the hedgehogs, described the content as "adult content. Pure sexual stuff." After posting about the incident on social media, Fortune reported that at least seven other families contacted her with similar experiences.
Jemma Ashby told the Wirral Globe that she was shopping at a Tesco in Merseyside with her 10-year-old daughter when a man offered them a hedgehog. She initially thought it was a "lovely gesture" and placed it on her daughter's windowsill. However, after seeing a Facebook post about the source material, she examined the hedgehog and found explicit passages, including references to a legal age and a murder. She immediately removed it from her daughter's room.
Police Involvement
Some parents reported the matter to Merseyside police. Officers spoke to the man, who said he normally checked the pages before using them and was mortified by the mistake. Merseyside police confirmed on Monday that they were "happy there was no malice involved and no offences have been committed." A spokesperson added: "The hedgehogs were created in good faith by the individual and have been used to raise money for a local charity."
Source of the Pages
Some hedgehogs appeared to be made from Nicholson Baker's 1994 erotic novel The Fermata, with at least one containing sexually explicit passages. Others were made from different books, such as Rosemary Enright's The Walled Garden.
Mixed Reactions
While some parents were upset, others defended the man, noting that only some hedgehogs contained explicit content and it was a mistake. One woman said her four-year-old was "absolutely obsessed" with her hedgehog, made from The Walled Garden, and believed there was no malicious intent. Some even expressed interest in obtaining a hedgehog, with one man commenting, "Who's the old guy making them? I want one. It would be especially fun if it was made from an erotic novel."
