Same author as the Pig the Pug series, and I love the vibrant art in this one.

I bought this as a Christmas present, and of course I had to read it first. It is adorable and hilarious and so clever, I think she will love it! ( )

I Need a Hug by Aaron Blabey is a story about being an outcast. Told in 1st person, a porcupine wants to be comforted with a hug, but every animal he comes across runs away and usually says something hurtful to the porcupine. There wasn't much character development (if any), but toward the end, all the animals that ran away from him are now running towards him. He mistook this encounter as if they all changed their mind, but they run past him. The readers then find out that they were running from a snake, who wanted a kiss. In the end, two outcasts come together and comfort one another.

I believe the theme of this story is that even when we feel like an outcast, there is always someone else who can relate to you and comfort you. I do believe that this was a good read, however, I feel as if there wasn't enough character development happening. I think if they would have shown more emotion within the character, either through illustrations or text, it would have been much better.

I think this book would suit well in a Pre-K - 3rd grade classroom ( )

A little porcupine asks each of his woodland friends for a hug in this latest picture-book offering from Australian author/artist Aaron Blabey, the creator of the Pig the Pug picture-books and the Bad Guys series of comic books/beginning chapter-books. Unfortunately, the other animals have no interest in hugging so prickly a character, until our hystricine hero encounters someone who is also having trouble finding a little love...

The premise of I Need a Hug - that a porcupine has trouble getting any love, because the other creatures are put off by his spines - is one that is reminiscent of a number of other picture-books I have read, from Laurie Isop's How Do You Hug a Porcupine? to Holly Hobbie's Elmore. The narrative here is simple - just the back-and-forth dialogue between the porcupine and the other characters - and the artwork humorous. I don't know that I found this one as humorous as some of Blabey's others, but I did appreciate the ending, which brings in another kind of animal (a snake) that has trouble finding affection. This author seems to specialize in such creatures, if one goes by his Bad Guys books. Recommended to Aaron Blabey fans, and to anyone looking for fun new picture-books. ( )

Well written. Great illustrations. This is one adorable story ( )