I’m thrilled that GROUP HUG will be making its way through all of these awesome readers and reviewers! I hope you’ll follow along!
![](https://jeanreidy.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/Group-Hug-Schedule-169x300.png)
I’m thrilled that GROUP HUG will be making its way through all of these awesome readers and reviewers! I hope you’ll follow along!
“This sweetly endearing charmer, highlighting kindness, is expressed in jaunty, witty rhymes that read and scan beautifully … Readers will embrace this captivating winner.”
“The economic text has a surfeit of aural pleasures, and Reidy (Truman) strikes a comic tone that never sinks into sentimentality: an overworked beaver is beckoned with ‘Come join our crew./ Let the hugging ensue!’ Digital art by Chou (Ways to Welcome) combines strong lines and shapes with intricate, expertly balanced overlays of color and texture. Together, text and art radiate a sense of unalloyed communal joy.”
– Publishers Weekly –
“(A)n excellent storytelling experience … enhancing the message of kindness and understanding.”
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Friends, get ready to meet SYLVIE – a sweet and surreptitious spider with a big, bold heart. I’m so, SO excited to reveal her adorable cover. And I can’t wait for you all to read her story. (It features a favorite tortoise of mine!) Coming May 2022 from Lucy Ruth Cummins, Atheneum/Simon & Schuster and ME and it’s available for preorder now!
Happy Reading!
Jean
Hi friends!
This month, you’ll see WHEN THE SNOW IS DEEPER THAN MY BOOTS ARE TALL in the Kindergarten Scholastic Book Clubs Flyer! As a kid, I loved these flyers and loved ordering many, MANY books. And now, I really appreciate the way Scholastic brings low-cost books to more young readers. Yay! Thank you Macmillan/Henry Holt/Godwin Books and Scholastic Book Clubs.
To find out more about this book, including buying options and free resources for parents, librarians, educators and bookstores, please check out my book page!
Friends, do you know what I might love most about the GROUP HUG book design? Two simple surprises. The adorable case cover AND the full-color, all-in hug poster on the back of the book jacket!! So, so fun! GROUP HUG – coming in December from Joey Chou, MacKids Books and me! You can preorder it now right here!
While we’re a little over a month away from GROUP HUG’s U.S. release date, it publishes today in the UK from Scallywag Press. And I’m loving this Red Reading Hub review!
“Jean Reidy’s telling comprises story elements both young listeners and beginning readers delight in: a repeat refrain (the title in this case), a spare rhythmic rhyming text, gentle humour, along with themes of kindness, acceptance and inclusivity. All this, together with Joey Chou’s digital scenes, each of which is imbued with a sense of community delight, make for a welcome heart-warming hug of a book for group sharing and individual reading.”
To read the whole wonderful review check out the Red Reading Hub blog post!
To learn more about GROUP HUG and preorder your copy, check out my book page!
And if you live in the UK you can order GROUP HUG from Scallyway Press right here.
U.S. readers, December will be here before you know it. Preorder GROUP HUG here!
Happy Reading!
Friends, it’s a good-newsy kind of week, so I apologize for all these braggy-sounding posts, but … oh, my stars! It’s a @Kirkus STARRED review for GROUP HUG from MacKids Books, Joey Chou and me!
“Paying it forward with cuddles. Starting with an affectionate slug, a bevy of down-in-the-dumps animals, including a beetle, a mouse, a skunk, a beaver, a porcupine, a goose, and a fox, encounter one another, one by one. Each needs something to lift it out of the doldrums. That’s soon taken care of as each newcomer in turn is invited to become enfolded in an ever larger…GROUP HUG! The cumulative hug always manages to make room for others and become more inclusive—until Bear lumbers onto this cozy scene. Suddenly, all the huggers quickly skedaddle, leaving only Slug and Bear in their wake. At this point, Slug shares a very important secret with the forlorn ursine and readers: ‘that a hugger finds happiness… / ’longside the hugged!’ Unsurprisingly, the book concludes with a very heartwarming (and expansive) bear (and slug) hug. This sweetly endearing charmer, highlighting kindness, is expressed in jaunty, witty rhymes that read and scan beautifully and will develop kids’ aural skills and vocabulary. They beg to be read aloud in order to capture the verses’ full emotional and punchy effect. The adorably simple, lively illustrations layer colors to depict the various critters with delightfully expressive charm. Readers will embrace this captivating winner.”
Hugs all around!!
Jean
Friends, take a peek at this so, SO sweet cover for the next picturebook in the “What Would You Do” series. It’s about those very special first and best friendships and it’s coming August 2022 from HarperKids Books, Joey Chou and me!
It’s never too soon to get excited!
To learn more about all my books check out my Books page!
Thanks for stopping by and …
Happy reading!
Jean