cover image Big Bear Hug

Big Bear Hug

Nicholas Oldland. Kids Can, $16.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-1-55453-464-7

Recast Ferdinand the bull as a bear living in the North Woods, with hugs filling in for flower sniffing—that’s a workable summation of this debut effort. While the ursine hero may look like a hulking beast, he’s actually “so filled with love and happiness” that he gives out hugs wherever he goes—whether the recipient asked for one or not (“He even hugged creatures that bears have been known to eat”). And even more than hugging animals, the bear loves to hug trees. But when a woodsman threatens “one of the tallest, oldest, and most beautiful trees in the forest,” will the bear revert to type? Oldland’s rustic-styled digital artwork looks like a hip flannel pajama print (which is probably no coincidence, given that he’s creative director at an apparel company), and his pictures play sly comic foil to the earnest text. Ages 3–7. (Sept.)