Who Wants a Hug?

PreS-K—Everyone in the forest loves ebullient Bear and his big hugs—everyone except Skunk, the gleefully grouchy outcast. Bear's constant cheerfulness gets under Skunk's fur so much so that he decides to play a series of nasty tricks, but no matter how hard he tries, nothing goes right. When the stink balloon he plants for Bear backfires on him, Bear knows just what he needs to cheer him up—a hug. Skunk is quickly converted to Bear's hugging ways, and Bear's good nature wins out-even if he has to wear a clothespin on his nose. Mack's bright cartoon illustrations, created with a combination of ink and pencil and Photoshop, bring the characters to life and mesh perfectly with the crackling text. The message—that everyone is lovable, no matter how stinky and mean on the surface—bubbles through the story without ever becoming heavy-handed. A sure favorite for storytimes.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD