Synopsis
Jake doesn’t want to give his mother a hug when he gets to school. All the other kids will think he’s a baby. But when Jake gets home, he finds that his mom has given his hug to his dad, who’s given it to the cat, who’s given it to a witch, and so on . . . Will Jake ever get his hug back? James Mayhew’s gentle story and Sue Hellard’s charming illustrations make this a perfect bedtime story for parents and children to share.
Publishers Weekly
When Jake refuses his mother's hug at the school door-"Everyone will think I'm a baby"-he just assumes it will be there to console him at the end of the day when, as Mayhew (Katie Meets the Impressionists) diplomatically puts it, "Things hadn't gone [his] way." But Jake discovers that hugs don't go into a personalized cold storage, but are rather part of a kind of cuddly continuum, traveling from one needy recipient to another, ad infinitum. Nonetheless, Jake is determined to reclaim his hug (hence the title) and so launches a quest that starts at his dad (who needed a hug because his motorcycle malfunctioned) and ends in a fairytale land with a very big red dragon. Hellard's (Yake a Kiss to School) ink-and-watercolor drawings have the fluid line, elegant air and well-heeled settings reminiscent of William Hamilton's New Yorkercartooning; the urbane aesthetic keeps the book's conceit from getting soggy and makes it a nice choice for bedtime. Ages 4-8. (Feb.)
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