Plenty of Hugs

by Fran Manushkin (Author) Kate Alizadeh (Illustrator)

Reading Level: K − 1st Grade

Two mommies spend a sunny day with their toddler in this cozy, rhyming picture book that is a loving celebration of family.

This cheerful book follows a family from morning to night in lively rhyme that rolls off the tongue. There's a buzz for each bug, and a breeze for each tree, and plenty of hugs for you and me. The toddler and mommies take a morning bike ride to a farm stand, they visit a zoo in the afternoon, and in the evening there's the bath and storybook routine before the child is tucked cozily into bed. There are seas for ships and kisses for lips, so we can whisper I love you! This is sure to become a preschool favorite, for bedtime and any time.

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Hardcover
$18.99

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Kirkus

Starred Review
Plenty of need for this warm hug of a book. 

ALA/Booklist

Children will delight in the feeling of wonder brought out by Alizadeh’s cozy illustrations, and at the same time, be lulled by the hypnotic verse.

School Library Journal

An interracial family consisting of two moms and a toddler bicycle through a busy summer day, offering invitations to readers to observe the world around them. Alizadeh's pencil and digital illustrations are vivid and inviting, and continually capture moments of affection from the excited toddler waking up his still-sleepy mom to their last bedtime kiss. From the soft butch aesthetic of one of the tot's mothers to the family photos on the wall depicting a pride celebration, the illustrations are specific and detailed. Tickles at the farm stand and waving to the panda at the zoo from their bikes give way to a quiet evening, cozy towel cuddles, and several bedtime books in a routine that will resonate with parents of young children. Manushkin's text imitates the nonsensical patter of a parent to a toddler, observing the world around them. The third line, "There are plenty of fish in the sea" follows the instruction to "Look up!". One of the final lines reads "There's a glow for each firefly too, a jump for each cricket, a bounce on my knee, and us to make a family." The rhyme scheme is inconsistent from verse to verse, which may present a challenge for reading aloud. VERDICT Alizadeh's loving illustrations of an interracial, two-mom family will fill a gap in most collections and circulate well in collections serving bikeable urban neighborhoods.—Amanda Foulk, Sacramento Public Library

Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Publishers Weekly

Two mothers and their toddler find joy in spending time together as this picture book's text describes a world in which "The sun shines on everyone./ There are plenty of fish in the sea." In Alizadeh's digitally refined pencil illustrations, the affectionate family--the child grins throughout, one mom sports a tattoo and an undercut--snuggles in bed, bikes to a farmstand and a zoo, and heads back home before sharing a meal and moving into their bedtime routine. Manushkin's hopeful lines emphasize both a feeling of abundance and a connection to the natural world: "There's plenty of blue for bluebirds,/ and red for strawberries too.// There is grass for gazelles,// for each panda bamboo,// and plenty of noodles/ for me and you." Cozy illustrations lend a classic sensibility to this incidentally inclusive bedtime tale for the youngest readers. Ages 2-5. (Apr.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes



Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780525554011
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Dial Books
Publication date
April 14, 2020
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV010000 - Juvenile Fiction | Bedtime & Dreams
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV060000 - Juvenile Fiction | LGBT
Library of Congress categories
Stories in rhyme
Families
Family life
Mother and child
Love
Love, Maternal
Gay parents
Lesbian mothers

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