Is it true that your child can never have enough cookies? For that matter, can he ever have enough toys, TV, playtime, or visits to grandma’s? In the new book “I’ll Hug You More” by Laura Duksta, illustrated by Melissa Iwai, there’s always a chance for more extra-special things.
When morning comes, it’s time to get up! Children open their eyes, jump out of bed, and start their day with a huge hug. Can you think of anything better?
There’s a hug as “thank you” for a yummy breakfast. A hug for their best stuffed animal. A hug for a snack, and for just because.
But morning isn’t the only time they give hugs.
Kids give them before school and when they come home. They give hugs just before bedtime and after they’re sleepy beneath the blankets. They know that tomorrow there’ll be another wake-up call and lots of hugs to give and get.
Tomorrow, they’ll hug more. And again.
Start “I’ll Hug You More,” and you’re treated to a sweet little poem between mother and child. It’s filled with expressions of love and reminders to show affection in all kinds of ways, beginning in the morning and ending at night with more endearments. That makes this a sleep-on-it kind of book perfect for bedtime.
Then again, this is a book that never ends — by design.
Duksta builds in a twist, literally, so that when the hugger has done her job, you’re compelled to twist and flip the physical book to get the story from the huggee’s point of view, complete with different illustrations by Iwai.
That makes this a really cute tale from both sides, and the novelty of it is something kids will like. Give “I’ll Hug You More” to your 4- to 8-year-old, and she, literally, won’t be able to get enough of it.
“I’ll Hug You More” by Laura Duksta, illustrated by Melissa Iwai [32 pages, 2017, $16.99].
Terri Schlichenmeyer has been reading since she was 3 years old, and she never goes anywhere without a book.
