Overview
An irresistibly appealing puppy named Hugs sets out one morning on a quest. He asks every animal he meets for a kiss, and they are all happy to oblige. The pup discovers that duck’s kisses are hard and wet; a horse’s kiss is a little sticky, but very warm; the pig’s kiss is a little muddy and bristly, tickley but tender. He collects lots of wonderful kisses, but when he returns home, he discovers that the best kiss of all is the one he gets from his loving mother.Author Biography: Christophe Loupi was born in France. He began his career creating comic strips and now works as a nursery-school teacher, a program director for a French publisher, and writer of picture books, novels, and filmscripts. This is his first book for North-South.
Eve Tharlet was born in France and spent most of her childhood in Germany. Among her books for North-South are How Will We Get to the Beach? by Brigitte Luciani, The Emperor’s New Clothes, and the series of books by Brigitte Weninger featuring Davy and the Rabbit Family.
Hugs the puppy sets out to collect lots of wonderful kisses from his animal friends, but in the end he discovers that the best kiss of all is the one he gets from his loving mother.
Synopsis
An irresistible puppy collects kisses from every animal he meets, but when he returns home, he discovers that the best kiss of all is the one he gets from his loving mother. Full color.
Publishers Weekly
This homage to affection from a French team stars Hugs, a farm puppy who is on a mission to find out which animal delivers the best kiss. Each encounter possesses its own distinct characteristics. The horse's delivery, for example, "was a bit damp, of course, and sticky, but it was quite warm." A rabbit's kiss was "a bit wiggley, of course, and quick, but it was quite soft." If the narrative includes a few too many examples and winds up predictably (his mother's kiss is best), Tharlet's paintings carry the volume. Keeping background elements to a minimum, she focuses each of her graceful, gauzy, ink-and-watercolor illustrations on the smooches themselves, which she imagines in endearing vignettes. Hugs rises up on his hind legs to connect with a butterfly and sits blissfully to receive a buss on each cheek from a pair of doting ducks; a comically looming pink sow plants one on the hero's nose. Like a kiss itself, this tale may well be the subject of repeated requests. Ages 3-5. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
This homage to affection from a French team stars Hugs, a farm puppy who is on a mission to find out which animal delivers the best kiss. Each encounter possesses its own distinct characteristics. The horse's delivery, for example, "was a bit damp, of course, and sticky, but it was quite warm." A rabbit's kiss was "a bit wiggley, of course, and quick, but it was quite soft." If the narrative includes a few too many examples and winds up predictably (his mother's kiss is best), Tharlet's paintings carry the volume. Keeping background elements to a minimum, she focuses each of her graceful, gauzy, ink-and-watercolor illustrations on the smooches themselves, which she imagines in endearing vignettes. Hugs rises up on his hind legs to connect with a butterfly and sits blissfully to receive a buss on each cheek from a pair of doting ducks; a comically looming pink sow plants one on the hero's nose. Like a kiss itself, this tale may well be the subject of repeated requests. Ages 3-5. (Jan.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.Publishers Weekly
Youngsters can touch the soft fur of Hugs, the pup star of the board book Hugs and Kisses by Christophe Lupy, illus. by Eve Tharlet, as he goes in search of the best kiss. A pig's rough skin and a horse's velvety coat are among the other textures along the way to mother's silky ear at book's end. PW wrote of the original, "Like a kiss itself, this tale may well be the subject of repeated requests." Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
Farm puppy Hugs sets out one morning on a quest to see whose kiss is best. From a duck, whose kiss is "a bit hard of course, and wet," to a butterfly, whose kiss "tickled a bit of course," Hugs visits many animals in the farmyard and beyond, making friends and collecting kisses along the way. In the end, though, none of these kisses can compare to the one from Hugs's mother, whose kiss is "the best kiss of all." James's translation from the German is smooth, even if the text is somewhat repetitious. But the familiarity of repetition is part of the point of a book like this, and young listeners will be reassured not only by the repeating plot of Hugs's journey, but also by the love and security at journey's end. Tharlet's soft watercolors illustrate gauzy pastel background landscapes through which wide-eyed, friendly animals romp and roam. The board book includes touch spots to feel--such as the duck's hard beak, Hugs soft body, pigs' leathery skin and mama's soft ear. 2005 (orig. 2001), North-South Books, Ages 3 to 6.—Norah Piehl