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Group Hug
There once was a slug,
needing someone to hug.
When Slug happens upon a lonely beetle, he knows just what to do. He gives him a big hug―and then the two friends decide to pass it along. They meet Mouse, who’s down in the dumps, Skunk, who’s a bit smelly, and more and more animals, until their group hug stretches wide and tall. But when Bear comes along, will there be enough hug to share? Join this forest of friendly animals as one-by-on they learn the contagious happiness that hugs can bring!
This delightful picture book encourages kindness and goes to show “that a hugger finds happiness ‘longside the hugged!”
Picture book, Ages 4-8, Macmillan/Holt/Godwin Books, 11/2021
ISBN: 9781250127105 (Hardcover)
Group Hug
There once was a slug,
needing someone to hug.
When Slug happens upon a lonely beetle, he knows just what to do. He gives him a big hug―and then the two friends decide to pass it along. They meet Mouse, who’s down in the dumps, Skunk, who’s a bit smelly, and more and more animals, until their group hug stretches wide and tall. But when Bear comes along, will there be enough hug to share? Join this forest of friendly animals as one-by-on they learn the contagious happiness that hugs can bring!
This delightful picture book encourages kindness and goes to show “that a hugger finds happiness ‘longside the hugged!”
Picture book, Ages 4-8, Macmillan/Holt/Godwin Books, 11/2021
ISBN: 9781250127105 (Hardcover)
REVIEWS, NEWS AND INTERVIEWS
“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. “
“(A)n excellent storytelling experience … enhancing the message of kindness and understanding.”
“This wonderfully clever and inventive story about needing hugs all round is the perfect answer, both during the current pandemic and the soon (hopefully) end of such, because everyone needs hugs, it doesn’t matter how young or old we are. The rhymes are very skillful and funny, and the illustrations huggable; the inclusivity ticks lots of boxes too. But it is the whole that is so impressive. First of all comes a slug in need of a hug: ‘Along came a beetle, a lonely ol’ bug. You need a hug? I have one said Slug, to keep your heart snug.’ And so it goes. A mouse, a squirrel, a skunk (not the happiest of huggers), a beaver, a porcupine (quill-less), a groundhog, a goose, a fox and a moose – and after each addition there is a bigger and bigger group hug until it becomes huge. ‘Then along lumbered Bear needing someone to care. Not to snack on, I swear… yet they shouted, BEWARE!’ But the others are too scared to add him to the mixture, and they scatter to the four winds. Only the Slug is left because he understands that those who give hugs ‘find happy as much as the hugged’. On the final page we see the whole crew reunited in one humongous hug. Brilliantly executed and full of the repetition and colour that appeals so to the young.”
“This delightful picture book encourages kindness and goes to show that a hugger finds happiness alongside the hugged! The children in Reception and KS1 were naturally drawn to the simplicity of this book and enjoyed being able to join in with the repeated refrain of the title and the rhyming pattern. The clear message about inclusivity and kindness has been perfect for our assembly to mark the introduction of Anti Bully Week 2021 with its theme – ‘One Kind Word.’ Another great addition to our library.”