Tit for Tat: No Hugs Till Saturday by Julie Downing

Little dragon Felix's mom loves his repertoire of hugs: there's his soft snuggle, and his super squeeze, and then there's his specialty, the monster mash.

But one Sunday morning, when Felix makes a super dragon throw with his favorite ball and brings down a vase, Mom is NOT in a snuggling mood!

"No more ball till TOMORROW!" she decrees.

Well! Two can play this game, Felix figures.

"No more hugs till SATURDAY!" he declares.

"Dragons don't give hugs. Dragons don't NEED hugs!"

But soon Felix finds out that Saturday is a long time coming. Mom shows him the days of the week on her calendar and Felix begins to mark off all the days between Sunday and Saturday.

"I meant Friday. I really meant no more hugs until Thursday!" he amends.

Then Mom turns to the baby for a few hugs and kisses, and Felix hurriedly adjusts his schedule again.

"Mom, there are no more hugs till Tuesday. No hugs at all."

"What happened to Wednesday?" asked Mom.

"I'm afraid you'll drown in all those slobbery baby hugs!"

Of course, a wise Mom can see where this one is going, and sure enough, by bedtime Felix is asking an important question:

"Is it TOMORROW yet?"

Julie Downing's soft, rounded watercolor characters make it through a shortened drought of dragon hugs as Mom collects a super-special, gigantic monster mash by bedtime. Reminiscent of Russell Hoban's evergreen Frances stories, No Hugs Till Saturday both reinforces the days of the week while also teaching a gentle lesson about forgiveness and family affection in the kind of insightful story which makes us hope to see more of this appealing preschooler's family.