The Hug: Mini Edition

by Eoin McLaughlin, Polly Dunbar (Illustrator)

Overview

Hedgehog was feeling sad.
As sad as a hedgehog can feel.
So sad only one thing could help...

Tortoise was feeling sad.
As sad as a tortoise can feel.
So sad only one thing could help...

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!

A beautiful, heartwarming picture book with all the universal appeal of Guess How Much I Love You.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780571350605
Publisher:	Faber and Faber
Publication date:	10/05/2021
Series:	Hedgehog & Friends
Pages:	56
Product dimensions:	5.24(w) x 5.24(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 5 Years

About the Author

Eoin McLaughlin was born in Ireland and now lives in Surrey with his partner and their young son. When he’s not hugging them, he’s writing more stories. The Hug was his debut picture book. He also wrote Secret Agent Elephant, illustrated by Ross Collins and The Case of the Missing Cake, illustrated by Marc Boutavant, and has many more picture books in the pipeline.

Polly Dunbar is one of the best-known illustrators working in the UK today. Polly's bestselling book, Penguin, won numerous awards including the BookTrust Early Year's Award, the Nestle Silver Children's Book Prize, the Red House Children's Book of the Year Award and was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Polly was chosen as one of BookTrust's Ten Best Illustrators. Polly is the illustrator of Shoe Baby, Pat-a-Cake Baby and two picture books written by David Almond. Polly created Tilly and Friends, a series which is now animated on CBeebies. Polly lives in the Waveny Valley, Suffolk with her partner and their two boys.

Read an Excerpt

Hedgehog was feeling sad.




As sad as a hedgehog can feel.




So sad only one thing could help...








Tortoise was feeling sad.




As sad as a tortoise can feel.




So sad only one thing could help...

Editorial Reviews

"Feels like being enveloped in your very own hug." — Kirkus

"A smashing story time tale." — Books For Keeps

"Utterly lovely." — Guardian

“Sometimes all you need is a little TLC, but that’s easier said than done for a prickly-backed hedgehog and a hard-shelled tortoise. With adorable arms outstretched, the two embark from opposite sides of this innovative flip book...until Tortoise and Hedgehog meet in the middle, proving that there really is someone out there for everyone.” — Foreword Reviews

"Heart-warming." — Sunday Times

From the Publisher

2019-01-15

What to do when you're a prickly animal hankering for a hug? Why, find another misfit animal also searching for an embrace!

Sweet but "tricky to hug" little Hedgehog is down in the dumps. Wandering the forest, Hedgehog begs different animals for hugs, but each rejects them. Readers will giggle at their panicked excuses—an evasive squirrel must suddenly count its three measly acorns; a magpie begins a drawn-out song—but will also be indignant on poor hedgehog's behalf. Hedgehog has the appealingly pink-cheeked softness typical of Dunbar's art, and the gentle watercolors are nonthreatening, though she also captures the animals' genuine concern about being poked. A wise owl counsels the dejected hedgehog that while the prickles may frighten some, "there's someone for everyone." That's when Hedgehog spots a similarly lonely tortoise, rejected due to its "very hard" shell but perfectly matched for a spiky new friend. They race toward each other until the glorious meeting, marked with swoony peach swirls and overjoyed grins. At this point, readers flip the book to hear the same gloomy tale from the tortoise's perspective until it again culminates in that joyous hug, a book turn that's made a pleasure with thick creamy paper and solid binding.

Watching unlikely friends finally be as "happy as two someones can be" feels like being enveloped in your very own hug. (Picture book. 3-5)

Kirkus Reviews