Hug

Rating:
Summary: I'd rate HUG a 10+
Review: The pictures are superb. My children are grown and I bought a copy for myself, it captivated me so. Actually, I have already purchased three copies and succeeded in finding a child for each one. What a fun read! It makes such an impression on a toddler and because the book mainly consists of one word the youngster can eventually read it without an adult by simply following the pictures. All three of the children I gave the book to (after the joyful experience of reading it to them first) already owned a plush toy monkey that they immediately dubbed BoBo.

Rating:
Summary: great for gifts
Review: This board book is our favorite baby gift. It's richly illustrated and has a simple moral which everyone should instill in themselves as well as their little ones. HUG!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Lack of words encourages baby to "tell" the story
Review: This book is just adorable. The lack of words takes me out of the driver's seat, and leaves my 14-month-old daughter to jabber away with her own version of what's going on. What a great idea.

Rating:
Summary: A heckuva huggy monkey
Review: Virtually wordless yet convincingly lovable. That's probably the best way to describe Jez Alborough's sweet, "Hug". I'm not usually taken in by cutesy picture books. For me, if a book is going to be sweet it needs a little added spice. The kind of stuff you find in Janet Stoeke's, "Minerva Louise" books, for example. So the image of a baby chimp opening its arm wide crying, "Hug", is not supposed to charm me. Unexpectedly, it did.

In this tale, a baby chimpanzee sees different baby/parent animals hugging one another. Bobo (that's the chimp's name, it turns out) at first is delighted. He points and yells, "Hug", whenever he gets a chance. But soon it's clear to the little guy that he's alone and there's no one for him to hug. A friendly pair of elephants take pity on the fellow and set out to locate his parent. Along the way they see more and more animals hugging in their own special ways. Bobo lets go with an awe inspiring, "HUG" when at long last his mommy arrives. The two hug (to a chorus of other animals saying, "Hug") and before you know it everyone's hugging everyone else. At the end, it's just Bobo and his mommy walking off together at last.

This book has all the usual toddler fears in it. The separation from the parent. Seeing a bunch of other people happy when you're not. I appreciated that author/illustrator Alborough didn't make her animals hug in incorrect ways. Which is to say, you don't see two giraffes standing on their hind legs hugging with their front ones. Instead, they nuzzle. Bobo himself is a pretty sympathetic creation too. The slow dawning realization that he doesn't have anyone to hug is heartbreaking. Also, Alborough was clever to cast him as her hero. Chimpanzees hug just like humans do, so kids will identify intrinsically with the reunited mother and son. The illustrations in this book never become treacly, and even the massive everybody-hugs-everybody scene at the end doesn't overflow into schmaltz. It's just a sweet book with a sweet message of hugging.

When I checked this book out of the library, the check out girl's reaction to the cover was, "awwww". That pretty much sums up the book right there. It may not contain the wit of an "Olivia" storyline or the artistic breadth and depth of a Chris Van Allsburg creation, but it's got heart. And heart, whatever else people might say, is very hard to create. A great lovable tale.


Rating:
Summary: A slightly different story every time
Review: When I asked my one year-old son to give me a hug the other day, he pointed at the bookshelf where we keep Jez Alborough's "Hug." THEN he obliged.

Because there are only three words in this book, "hug," "Bobo," and "Mommy," the reader can fill in however many details that the listener can sit still for. Sometimes we turn the pages very quickly (turning pages is my son's favorite activity). Other times, we talk about the illustrations and discuss what the characters may be feeling. (I talk, baby D. nods wisely.) It's truly interactive in the old-fashioned way. If you don't get a hug at the end of this book -- I'm sorry to say it -- there's something wrong with you. Maybe it's your technique. Or possibly you are not reading it to a kid whom you actually know?

The illustrations are bright and gorgeous. This book is a delight.