Hugs

No Hugs Till Saturday
by Julie Downing

Felix asks his mother what kind of hug she wants on Sunday morning, and she asks for a super squeeze. Felix makes it a “super special” super squeeze. After he eats breakfast, Felix starts throwing his ball around, and his mother reminds him that the rule is not to play ball in the house. Unfortunately, Felix has already broken a vase with the ball, so his mother tells him he needs some quiet time. Felix spends his quiet time drawing, and he seems to be pretty angry with his mother. When his mother offers him a hug at the end of quiet time, Felix tells her that there will be no hugs until Saturday. Felix asks his mother when Saturday comes, and she shows him the calendar. Felix changes Saturday to Friday. No hugs until Friday. Then Felix builds a tower with blocks, but he cannot give a hug until Friday. Felix decides he will give hugs on Thursday. Will Felix keep changing his mind about what day he will give hugs? What day do you think will be the day he decides on? Will he give his mother all the hugs she has missed?

Hugging Hour!
by Aileen Leijten

“Drool” is left with her grandmother, and she wonders why her parents have left her. Drool loves her grandmother, but she is missing her mom and dad. Then her grandmother tells her that three o’clock is hugging hour, and Drool and Grandma hug for the whole hour. Then Drool asks Grandma what they are having for dinner, and there are a whole bunch of goodies like shortcake and waffles. While her grandmother is knitting a sock, Drool plays with Kip the chicken. They play dress up and then hide-and-seek. When she looks around, she cannot find Kip anywhere. Will Drool be able to find Kip? Will she make something special with her grandmother? Will her parents come to pick her up soon?

Hugless Douglas
by David Melling

A young brown bear named Douglas wakes up in a cave one spring morning. He decides that he needs a hug, gets ready, and then goes to look for one. Douglas first hugs a big rock, because it is the biggest thing he can find, but the rock is a “heavy” hug and not what he was looking for. Douglas’s next hug is a tall tree, but it is not the hug he wants and gives him splinters. Then Douglas sees a “comfy” bush, but the bush runs away from his hug. There are sheep in the bush, and they do not want a hug from Douglas. Douglas tries to hug a rabbit, but the rabbit does not want a hug, either. The rabbit does know where Douglas can find the best hug. Where do you think that the rabbit will lead him? Who can give Douglas the best hug? At the end of the book are all kinds of hugs that you can try.

Christian, the Hugging Lion
by Justin Richardson and Peter Parnell and illustrated by Amy June Bates

There is a store in London named Harrods that once promised that you could buy anything that you wanted there, such as a racing car, yacht, or camel. Ace and John went to see what they could find in the store, and they found a little lion cub from the zoo. They buy the lion cub, name him Christian, and take him home to their apartment. Christian was happy to have a home. Christian also likes to play and hug, and he behaves very well for a lion. Ace and John also take Christian with them when they go on walks and when they go to restaurants. After a year, Christian has gotten a lot bigger, and Ace and John decide that he belongs in the wild in Africa, instead of their little apartment. They leave Christian with Mr. Adamson, who will teach Christian have to live in the wild. Ace and John miss Christian and all of his hugs, and they decide to go visit him in Africa. Mr. Adamson tells them that Christian might not remember them, but they decide to look for him, anyway. Will Ace and John find Christian? If they do, will Christian remember them and the hugs he used to give them?

Hats

Hilda Crumm’s Hats
by Linda Hendry

Hilda loves every kind of junk there is, and she is always bringing home new kinds of junk. Hilda has junk all over her apartment and on her balcony, and it makes her very happy. Her neighbors, though, are not very happy. The neighbors ask Hilda to clean off her balcony. While she is cleaning the balcony, some of the junk falls down on top of Hilda’s head. Then Hilda hears a car suddenly stop. There is a lady in pink in a pink car that asks Hilda where she got the cute hat on her head. (The junk that has fallen onto Hilda’s head looks like a hat.) Hilda tells the lady that she “made” the hat. The lady asks Hilda to make her a hat for a party that she was going to on Friday. The people at the party love the hat, and soon, Hilda’s phone is ringing with orders for many different kinds of hats. Will making these hats leave any junk around Hilda’s apartment to make her happy? Will Hilda continue to make the hats if she uses all the junk she has?

Millie’s Marvellous Hat
by Satoshi Kitamura

Millie stops at the hat shop while walking home from school. She really likes one of the hats and goes inside to ask about it. Millie asks the man behind the counter to see the hat, and she really likes it. The hat costs a lot of money, and Millie asks the man if he has a hat that costs the amount of money she has (which is none). The man goes, gets a hat box, and places a hat on Millie’s head. He tells Millie that her “new” hat can be anything that she imagines it. On the way home, Millie thinks about a lot of different kinds of hats, such as a peacock hat, cake hat, flower hat, and many other different kinds of things that she sees. Will Millie’s imaginary hat be the only hat that she sees? What will Millie’s parents think about her new hat?

Whose Hat is That?
by Ron Roy and photographs by Rosmarie Hausherr

First there is a question, such as “Who wears a straw hat with a wide brim?” Then behind each of the questions is an answer. The page also tells you why that group of people wears that kind of hat. The hats that are asked about in the book include: wool hats, waterproof hats, hats with nets, hard hats, chef hats, paper hats, firefighters’ hats, cowboy hats, and many others. Do you have a favorite hat that you really like to wear? See if your hat is somewhere in this book. Will there be a hat that you might wear some day?

Don’t Touch My Hat
by James Rumford

In a town called Sunshine, there is a sheriff named Sheriff John. With Sheriff John’s ten-gallon hat, he can round up rustlers, stop fights at the saloon, save ladies in distress, and take care of any robbers that might come into Sunshine. Sheriff John does not believe that he can do these things without his hat. So he tells other people not to touch his hat while he is at the barber, taking a bath, or at home with his wife. Sheriff John’s wife, Lil, believes that Sheriff John likes his hat more than her, but she has a lot of hats, too. She had just bought a really fancy one yesterday. One night, rustlers were at a ranch, robbers were at the bank, there was a fight at the saloon, and there could also be a range-war. Sheriff John picks up his hat and goes to work. Will Sheriff John grab the right hat when he goes out to take care of all the trouble? Will he always have to have his ten-gallon hat to be a good sheriff?

Bedtime

Bedtime Without Arthur
by Jessica Meserve

Bella has a bear named Arthur who keeps all the monsters away at night, and this lets Bella dream about things like rainbows and rainforests. One morning, Bella thinks Arthur looks really tired after a night of fighting off the monsters, so she makes him breakfast and puts him to bed. That night when Bella goes to get Arthur, she cannot find him. Bella looks around and her family looks around, but no one can find Arthur anywhere. Mom and Dad tell Bella that they will find Arthur tomorrow, but Bella is not so sure. That night, Bella has bad dreams about dragons, slugs, and grizzly bears. Bella is very tired the next day, and nothing she did that day could cheer her up. Arthur is still missing by bedtime that night. In the middle of the night, it looks like monsters are outside Bella’s window, and she runs into her brother’s room to get away from them. What will she find in her brother’s room? Will she ever be able to get a good night’s sleep without Arthur?

The Patterson Puppies and the Midnight Monster Party
by Leslie Patricelli

Petra wakes up in the middle of the night as she usually does, and Petra is afraid of the dark and the monster. Her brothers and sister always sleep through the night, but Petra cannot. Petra tells her parents about the monster, but they tell her that everything is fine and put her back to bed. Her brothers and sister try to make her feel better, but nothing works, not even the sixteen stuffed animals she sleeps with. When she tells her brothers and sisters that the monster wants to eat them up, they come up with the idea to feed the monster cookies, instead. Petra agrees that they should try this idea. They leave the cookies and a note for the monster. When Petra woke up that night, she could hear noises. She woke up her brothers and sister. Will they find a monster eating their cookies? Will the monster scare them, or will they scare the monster? Will Petra be able to sleep at night without being scared?

The Random House Book of Bedtime Stories
illustrated by Jane Dyer

This book contains twenty-one different bedtime stories. Some of the stories that can be read for bedtime are How the Camel Got His Hump, The Tale of Peter Rabbit, The Gingerbread Boy, The Little Snow Maiden, The Hare and the Hedgehog, and many others. Most of the stories are pretty short, and these stories come from all over the world.

Interrupting Chicken
by David Ezra Stein

It is bedtime for Little Red Chicken, but first, papa must read her a bedtime story. Papa says he will read one of Little Red Chicken’s favorite stories, but Little Red Chicken should not interrupt him. Little Red Chicken promises to be good. Papa starts reading Hansel and Gretel, but Little Red Chicken interrupts the story to say that she told Hansel and Gretel that it was a witch and they did not go in her house. Papa tells Little Red Chicken that she interrupted him, and Little Red Chicken tells him she will not do it again. Papa starts reading Little Red Riding Hood, but Little Red Chicken interrupts again and says that she would tell Little Red Riding Hood not to talk to strangers. Will Little Red Chicken’s Papa keep reading her stories? Will Little Red Chicken keep interrupting him? Will there be enough stories to help Little Red Chicken go to sleep?

Some New Books for January

Petal’s Problems
by Lauren Baratz-Logsted with Greg Logstead & Jackie Logstead

The sixth book in the “Sisters 8” series is Petal’s story. Annie, Durinda, Georgia, Jackie, and Marcia have all received their powers and gifts, and with the arrival of June, it is Petal’s turn. It seems, though, that June should already have arrived, and it has not. That is okay for Petal, because she is not ready for her power and gift. The sisters have received an invitation to attend the wedding of two of their family members in France. The girls decide not to go to France. Then June arrives, and Petal is terrified of receiving her power. She hides under her bed every day, refusing to come out and go to school. Her sister, Rebecca, pulls her out every day, and her sisters make her go anyway. Their mechanic friend Pete tells them that he will get them passports so that the girls can go to France. Then he tells them that he and his wife will go to France with the girls. The girls finish school with no problems and pack for their trip to France. On the flight to France, Petal’s power finally shows up. What do you think Petal’s power will be? What will she get as a gift? Will Petal learn to not be so scared of her new power? Will her new power help her while she is in France?

Tina Cocolina: Queen of the Cupcakes
by Pablo Cartaya and Martin Howard and illustrated by Kirsten Richards

Tina Cocolina goes to the Gingersnap Academy for Rising Cupcakes, and most of the other cupcakes had already found their toppings. Tina, however, had not found her topping yet. One student, Candyce Cremiere, had found hers on a recipe during snack time, and Cremella du Chocolat had found her while playing the viola in music class. Tina looked all over for her very own topping, but so far, she was unable to find one that worked. Tina did not think that she would find it in time to be part of the Cream of the Top Cupcake Queen contest. Her mother had been Queen three times, and Tina would be very disappointed to not take part in the contest. Tina tries to create her own toppings using a balloon, dark chocolate, and a licorice shoestring, but the balloon pops. Will Tina get her topping in time to take part in the contest? What will her special topping be?

The Present
by Bob Gill

Arthur finds a present while he is looking for something in his father’s closet. Someone tried to hide the present, but Arthur sees the white wrapping paper with blue stars and the big red bow. Arthur knows his mother always wraps his presents with a red ribbon. Arthur imagines all the different things that could be in the box. Is it a cake, a ring toss, a sailboat, a teddy bear, or chocolate bars? Arthur also thinks about the things he could with the things the present could be. He could take the sailboat to the pond in the park and sail it or paint a picture of his house with a paint box. Arthur checks to make sure his present is still there every day. What do you think is in the present for Arthur? What do you think Arthur will do with that present?

That’s Awesome!: The World’s Most Amazing Facts & Records
by Time for Kids

This nonfiction book is full of things that are AWESOME! The chapters are Awesome Size, Awesome Price Tags, Awesome Animals & Plants, Awesome Sports, Awesome Eats, Awesome Arts, Just Awesome, Awesome Space, Awesome Weather & Other Forces of Nature, Awesome Collections, Awesome Jobs, Awesome Technology, The Awesome Human Body, Awesome History, and Awesome Mysteries. Some “awesome” facts include Willard Wiggin who makes art that is so small that you cannot see it without a microscope. Most of the art can fit into the eye of a needle. The titan beetle is the largest insect at up to 6.5 inches. Venus Williams has the fastest serve by a woman at 128 miles per hour. There are nutrition facts on different kinds of insects that are eaten around the world. It took 2,300,000 stone blocks to build The Great Pyramid of Khufu in Egypt. A tornado forms in space every three hours, but it is only dangerous to electrical equipment, not people. There are many other very interesting facts to find.