Picture Book Saturday (8)

Hugs From Pearl

By Paul Schmid

Published 2011 by HarperCollins Children’s Books

Okay, I have to start this review by saying OMG, so adorable! Pearl is a porcupine who absolutely loves giving hugs. But she hates it, too, because her hugs hurt her friends. Her friends like getting hugs from her, but they wish it didn’t hurt so much. Pearl tries everything she can think of to stop her hugs from hurting her friends – she puts pincushions on her quills, she tries soaking them to make them soft – but nothing works. Pearl is discouraged. Suddenly, she gets an idea from the roses. This book has a very sweet ending and absolutely precious illustrations – they are soft and pastel and so very cute. A totally adorable read.

Wiener Wolf

By Jeff Crosby

Published 2011 by Disney/Hyperion

I actually read this one a few months ago and forgot about it until I recently saw it again and was reminded of how much I loved it. This is another book that is just insanely adorable. I love dachshunds and I’m pretty sure that anyone else who loves them will really appreciate this book. This book is about believing in oneself and dreaming big. It is so sweet and wonderful with realistic and charming illustrations. I hope Wiener Wolf has more adventures in the future.

Jake Gander, Storyville Detective

By George McClements

Published 2002 by Hyperion Books for Children

I read about this one somewhere while I was working on programming for my new job. This is a fractured fairy tale (Little Red Riding Hood, to be specific). It’s a very nice introduction to detective work, though I’m not sure which age level this would work best for. Very young children know the story but might not get the intricacies of this fractured version and older children might view it as too baby-ish for them. The illustrations are interesting and work well for the story. This is an interesting fairy tale version that I was surprised to discover.

Extra Yarn
By Mac Barnett, illustrated by Jon Klassen
Published 2012 by Balzer + Bray
My reaction to this book is hmm...what is this book about? The illustrations are simple and done in an interesting style, which I enjoy, but I don't really get this book. Maybe it's about imagination? Or hope? Or something far more tangible? I'm really at a loss with this one and hope others have had more success than me.