6. You are a hedgehog! You're not really a hedgehog, of course. But one of the very clever things your brain can do is think about what it would be like to be a hedgehog. You'd be sleeping most of the day and you'd be getting up when it started to get dark - so no school for you! You'd only be about 20 centimetres long. If you came across an old football boot it might look like a strange cousin. You get excited by the smell of a rotting leaf - maybe underneath there's a delicious caterpillar or a lovely beetle you can have for breakfast. You don't walk very fast - it might take you a few minutes just to go along a short garden path (you really like human gardens). You've never watched television. You don't know what a holiday is. You can't think in words, but you have lots of feelings. When you meet another hedgehog, you're both quite chatty. You grunt and snuffle and make little squeals to show you're happy to meet each other. But it's very scary if you catch sight of a badger or hear an owl hooting. You quickly roll yourself up into a little ball, with all your sharp, spiky hairs sticking out to keep you safe. Soon it will be morning and you'll head home to the cozy little burrow you dug in some soft earth, hidden away behind some bushes. The hedgehog is teaching you about imagination. You could also imagine what it's like to be someone else: a grown-up, maybe, or someone living in another country. If you were them, what would you be feeling? What would excite you? What would frighten you? Your imagination helps you to understand other people much better. You can use your brain to travel into the minds and lives of other people and animals. It's one of the most interesting and helpful journeys you can ever make. Excerpted from Nature and Me: A Guide to the Joys and Excitements of the Outdoors by The School of Life All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
