THE GIANT HUG

This predictable story has an old-fashioned feel. Owen, a furry-looking pig-child wants to send his far-off grandmother a hug for her birthday. His mother takes him to the local post office, where he offers a hug to an employee. That hug gets passed along from person to person until it arrives at his granny’s house, much to her surprise and pleasure. Some of the hugs along the way are awkward, some uplifting, and one seems to spark a bit of romance. Horning’s straightforward text suits the innocently sweet intentions of her main character and makes the unlikely plotline believable (would co-workers in 2005 really embrace one another quite so blithely?). Gorbachev’s illustrations are likewise well suited to the story’s retro feel. Characters are anthropomorphized animals and settings are cheerily idealized in watercolor and pen-and-ink illustrations reminiscent of Wallace Tripp and Richard Scarry. Young listeners may learn a bit about how mail travels cross-country and admire Owen’s ingenuity, but this quiet story seems more likely to appeal to grandparents than to their energetic grandkids. (Picture book. 4-8)