Bear Hugs

Walden deploys an unabashedly sugary string of similes and metaphors as she writes in the voice of a parent singing the praises of its child: “You’re super-cute and cuddly,/ as sweet as pumpkin pie./ You are my one and only,/ the apple of my eye.” Working mostly in a palette of pastel colors, Riley creates a lightly anthropomorphic animal cast whose props and activities mirror the terms of endearment in the text. While the bouncy rhymes and uniformly cheery scenes can feel a bit one-note, as a testament to a parent’s unconditional love, it should hit the mark with many families. Ages 1–3. (Mar.)