At a Glance

Category/Genre(s):

Picture Book

Age Range:

3-5

Plot Summary:

“In this clever flipbook, both a hedgehog and a tortoise are looking for a hug. They ask all the other animals they come across but for some reason no one will hug them. Until a wise owl explains: Hedgehog is too spiky; Tortoise is too bony. And that’s when they find each other!” (source: Faber & Faber)

Strengths:

• Beautiful book
• Love that this is a flip book
• Cute, rich watercolor illustrations
• I like how the two stories are mirrors of each other
• Perfect quiet book for bedtime

Full Review

I was very excited to get a physical copy of THE HUG for review. This is a flip book, so you read the story first from hedgehog’s point of view until the characters meet in a fun vertical spread in the middle of the book. Then you can flip the book and read from turtle’s perspective.

Before I even opened the cover, I was blown away by the quality of the book itself. The spot gloss of the title and the characters really pop and the cover itself has an almost soft feel to it. It feels very durable with nice thick pages that will hold up to repeated readings with young children.

I really like the flip aspect of the book. I used to read this fun series of topsy-turvy books when I was a kid and so THE HUG brought back fond memories. There is just something so fun about finishing the story and then flipping the book over and enjoying it again from another character’s point of view. Both of my kids seemed enjoy this as well.

From a parent’s perspective, it makes the perfect bedtime story. The text is quiet and calming, and it feels like you are reading two books for the time-price of one. We naturally ended with a bedtime hug, which was great.

Polly Dunbar’s watercolor illustrations are rich and beautiful. I loved the little details that connect the two perspectives together. And the facial expressions of each animal as it delivers its panicked and desperate excuse for not giving a hug had my kids and I giggling. Highly recommend.

Final Verdict

THE HUG is a beautiful quiet book, perfect bedtime, that children will want to read again and again.

Purchase THE HUG on Indiebound, Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

---

Comment on this blog post and enter the Rafflecopter (at the link below) to win a copy of THE HUG (US residents only). A winner will be chosen at random Wednesday, April 10th.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/bc59cf8f8/?