A Porcupine Named Fluffy is a 1986 children's book written by Helen Lester and illustrated by Lynn Munsinger.
A proud pair of porcupine parents think about the perfect name for their son, eventually settling on "Fluffy." As he grows older, Fluffy tries to live up to his name, but to no avail. Then a meeting with a rhino changes everything.
This book includes examples of the following tropes:
- Commonality Connection: Fluffy and Hippo bond over the ludicrousness of their ironic names.
- A Dog Named "Cat": The rhinoceros Fluffy meets partway through the book is called Hippo.
- Ironic Name: The protagonist, a spiky porcupine, gets named Fluffy. As he grows up, he realizes it doesn't fit and tries all sorts of schemes to make himself fluffier, to no avail.
- Meaningful Name: Many of the names Mr. and Mrs. Porcupine consider before settling on "Fluffy" reference how spiky porcupines are (e.g., Lance, Quillian, Needleroozer, etc).
- No Name Given: Fluffy's parents are only referred to as Mr. and Mrs. Porcupine.
- Rhino Rampage: Played with. When Fluffy first meets the rhino, he threatens the young porcupine. However, after Fluffy actually manages to start a conversation, he seems quite nice, and they quickly become friends.
- Riding into the Sunset: The book closes on new friends Fluffy and Hippo walking into the sunset.
