Heart-y! I'm Going to Give You a Bear Hug! by Caroline B. Cooney

I'm going to give you a bear hug.

A show-you how much I care hug.

A way beyond compare hug.

There are all kinds of hugs imaginable in a kid's day. A cat gives a stare that means don't give me a muss-my-fur hug; horses offer a grab-my-mane, run-through-the-rain embrace; while ducks decide for a waddle-through-the-mud, till you're snug-under-Mama's-wing hug.

Piglet hugs are by their nature grubby group hugs, and finny fish hugs....?

Wet and drippy,
Slimy and slippy!

And after an roam-y, foamy whale ride, a rubsy-tubsy seal ride, a feel-you're-ready-to-be-dry ride, what sounds just right? A soft and fleecy sheep hug?

A lamb's wool,
blanket-full,

Don't make a peep hug?

Kids' days can be filled with plenty of adventures, leaving them in need of a warm bath and bedtime, and that is the story-within-the-story of Caroline B. Cooney's brand-new I'm Going to Give You a Bear Hug! (Zonderkidz, 2016). Wise parents can use a young child's imagination to ease the transition from playtime to bedtime, as Cooney does in this beguilingly rhyming book, in which a nightly bath time becomes whale-and seal-ride time, and a warm and woolly bed awaits the best hug of all, Mom-and-Dad's better-than-bear hugs.

Reminiscent of Michael Rosen's and Helen Oxenbury's classic, We're Going on a Bear Hunt (Classic Board Books) Cooney's newest makes use of artist Tim Warnes' big burly bear and cutely cuddly little critter characters and charmingly busy page illustrations to show that, while the daytime chase is fun, the nightly tuck-in can be satisfying, too, just right for a good night. A lovely and loving Valentine's gift for all year round.