The Nearness of You! I Need a Hug by Aaron Blabey

Everybody needs somebody sometime!

But not all bodies are equally... embraceable.

Nevertheless, Porcupine needs a big hug--bad!

"Will you cuddle me, Lou?"

Lou the Rabbit says, "SHOO!"

With the prospect of those prickles, Joe the Bear says "NO," four times in a row.

Porcupine pitches his request to his elk friend Ken.

"NOT again!" says Ken.

"That's not very kind!" complains Porcupine.

But all the critters seem to be beating a hasty retreat, page left. What's their problem now?

WAIT! What is that, slithering into the frame, page right?

"Gosh, All I wanted was a kiss," hisses Snake.

It's a match made in heaven, in Aussie author-illustrator Aaron Blabey's new American release, I Need a Hug (Scholastic Press, 2019 Am. ed.). Blabey's trademark googly-eyed critters have been cracking up kids Down Under for quite some time, and this new edition comes just in time to join our Valentine's Day affection selection. After all, snakes are great at hugging, and porcupines have to take their hugs when they can get them, in Blabey's comical conclusion to this delightfully predictable tale. Aaron Blabey is also the best-selling author of his Pig the Pug and sequels Pig the Winner (Pig the Pug), Pig the Fibber (Pig the Pug) Pig the Star (Pig the Pug) and Christmas comedy, Pig the Elf (Pig the Pug)(reviews here).

And for more prickly porcupine love problems, share this one with Laurie Isop's How Do You Hug a Porcupine?