I Need a Hug, written by Aaron Blabey, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Student Reviewer: Carlos S.
Summary: I Need a Hug by Aaron Blabey is a picture book that follows the life of a porcupine. Porcupine is upset and needs a hug, going to ask a number of animals for one. No one wants to hug Porcupine because of his needles. All the other characters (animals) are afraid of him and they run away. One day, Porcupine sees animals running the other way. He goes to investigate and finds that they are all running away from Snake. The animals are all afraid of Snake because he asked for a kiss and no one wanted to kiss him. Porcupine and Snake befriend each other and they give each other what they need. Porcupine gets a hug and Snake gets a platonic kiss. The book teaches the lesson of being excluded or ignored in society, and that since someone is different, some may wrongly treat that person differently.

Straight Talk for Librarians: The book can be used in a library or classroom to teach students to be nice to everyone. Someone may look a little different on the outside, but on the inside, we all need the same emotional support. The book uses animals that a child should be familiar with and the tone of the dialogue is emphasized by the positions and expressions of the animals. On pages where the emotion of the story is sad, the page color becomes less bright. The art style is cartoon-like which should appeal to most children, with each animal having large eyes and a simple but recognizable appearance. To emphasize the voice of each animal that rejects the porcupine, their negative words are in a font that is larger and messy. The rhymes in the text will appeal to readers and listeners alike. The sweet and satisfying ending will have readers going back again and again to read the story. It’s a good purchase for a school library.