Don't Call Me SPIKE! A Porcupine Named Fluffy by Helen Lester

Baby Porcupine needs a name. But Mr. and Mrs. Porcupine are stumped.

SHOULD THEY CALL HIM SPIKE?

NO. SPIKE WAS TOO COMMON.

It seems that in Porcupine country, most of the likely names for a little porcupine have already been taken. Lance and Quillian are classy, but, alas, cliched. Even the offbeat names like Pokey and Prickles have been pre-empted.
Needleroozer?

Are you kidding?

 Finally they come to an agreement.

LET'S CALL HIM FLUFFY!

It's an original, if improbable name for a little porcupine, all right. But as he grows up and his quills lose any soft, fluffy qualities they might have had, Fluffy begins to wonder whether his name is all that fitting.

And when he backs into a door and finds himself stuck fast to it, Fluffy has serious doubts.

Growing up porcupine is not without its hazards. Fluffy perforates his mattress when he tries to sleep on his back. A warm bubble bath makes his quills soggy but not soft. And when he holds an umbrella over his head, he pokes so many holes in it that he might as well try to stay dry under a colander. He tries whipped cream, shaving cream, feathers, and marshmallows, but he never achieves the intended fluffitude.

... THE TRUTH REMAINED.

FLUFFY WASN'T.

And then one day Fluffy meets up with a very large white rhinoceros who threatens to get rough and belligerently asks his name.  Fluffy fearfully answers, "Fluffy."

THE RHINOCEROS SMILED.  HE GIGGLED.

The more the rhino giggles, the more amused he gets.  Soon he's rolling on the grass and howling with laughter at the preposterous idea of a porcupine named Fluffy.

Fluffy is uncomfortable, and hoping to change the subject, inquires about the rhino's own name.

Even more giggles and gales of laughter follow. Fluffy shyly tries some guesses--Hubert? Herman? Harold?

"NO," GASPED THE RHINOCEROS. "IT'S H... H...  H... 

"... HIPPO!"

Helen Lester's and Lynn Munsinger's beloved porcupine tale, A Porcupine Named Fluffy (Houghton Mifflin, 2013) is back in a sharp new full-sized paperback edition, a story which humorously makes the point that no matter how silly your name may seem, there's always someone with one that's even funnier, someone who may even turn out to be your new best friend.  Munsinger's wryly  humorous illustrations, familiar from her collaborations with Lester in their best-selling Tacky the Penguin series and the award-winning Hooway for Wodney Wat and Wodney Wat's Wobot,  make this one a storytime favorite.