Kane is the Premier League's form frontman, with five of his 13 goals coming in just his past three outings.
The 21-year-old is set to be rewarded for his goalscoring exploits with a place in Hodgson's squad for March's Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania and friendly with Italy.
Hodgson said Kane, yet to earn a senior cap, deserved a chance to prove himself at international level.
"He's got the qualities you are looking for in a centre-forward, he goes both ways," the England manager told the press.
"He's quite prepared to take part in the build-up play, run the channels, receive the longer balls, fight with the centre halves.
"He's also prepared to make those runs into the box. He's good at attacking crosses, he's good at making the little short runs to get played in.
"Really, he combines everything you are looking for in a centre forward.
"Is he worth a place in the squad? Yes, of course he is. We've brought a lot of young players in, so he certainly deserves a place.
"But if you say 'is he worth a place vis-a-vis Wayne Rooney, [Danny] Welbeck, [Daniel] Sturridge?' - that's something he'll have to prove. Unless I give him a chance in the squad he’ll never get a chance to prove it."
While Kane is scoring regularly, England captain Wayne Rooney is yet to net in 2015 – partly due to a new midfield role at Manchester United.
Hodgson would prefer to see the 29-year-old playing as a striker for Louis van Gaal's team.
“Well, he's a goalscorer, isn't he? So one always likes to see goalscorers in positions where they can get into the box," he said.
"If you've got several other goalscorers and you can afford to use one a bit further back, that's fine.
"But he's our top goalscorer in the qualifiers, and he's just a few goals away from being England’s leading goalscorer, so I hope he will continue to score goals for us."
