It Can't Hurt! Hugga-Loula by Nancy Dearborn

 

HUGGA LOULA LAY ON HER BED READING A BOOK. SHE HEARD A TERRIBLE RACKET COMING FROM THE GARAGE.

Dad is rummaging frantically through his big tool box, looking for something. Hugga Loula rushes downstairs and outside to see what the hullaballoo is all about. It seems he can't find the special pliers he NEEDS! Loula tries to console him.

"IF YOU'RE GRUMPY AND MAD, FRUSTRATED OR SAD, JUST GIVE A SHOUT AND HUG IT OUT!"

And, sure enough, after a hug,  a brief search turns up the slip-joint pliers, and Dad finishes the job in jigtime.

But before Hugga-Lou can get back to her book, she hears a racket coming from the kitchen, which is piled with pots and pans and cooking implements scattered everywhere. Mama is frustrated as she searches for her smallest sauce pan. She NEEDS that pot! Hugga-Loula runs through her mantra, and after a big hug, she helps her mother locate the small pan. With a smile and a thank-you, Mom gets back to work in a jiffy.

Mission accomplished, Hugga-Lou returns to her reading, just as there's a desperate ruckus emanating from her little brother Stevie's bedroom. She finds him with the contents of his toy box scattered all over the floor, complaining crankily.

"I NEED. . . I NEED. . . "

Hugga-Loula repeats her magic words and with a hug helps Steve spots the truck he HAS to have. His frown turns upside down, and it seems finally everybody is happy, so it's back to her bedroom and her book for Hugga Lou at last. . . !

Or IS IT?

With a quick knock her whole family rushes in, saying that what they NEED is to hug her and thank her for her help, in Nancy Dearborn's latest Hugga Loula (Familius, 2021), with Huang Junyan's jolly illustrations assisting. Everyone gets by better with a little help from their friends (or family,) and although a big hug may NOT make a missing object miraculously turn up immediately. . .

IT CAN'T HURT!

Learning emotional maturity is a great skill that may take a lifetime to master, but little Hugga-Lou demonstrates  to young readers just how sympathy, a hug, and a helping hand work well for young and old. As School Library Journal puts it, "Modeling compassion for family and loved ones with hugs and patient listening, this is a perfect lesson for social emotional learning."  And we could all use a lesson in that these days!