March 1, 2023
A youngster deeply in touch with nature explains how to hug each part of a forest. The titular question may seem confounding at first, but the tiny narrator, who has brown skin and two coiled hair buns, breezily explains that OF COURSE you can hug a forest. All you need is a forest (check) and two arms ("Here are two. One. Two"). But you can't hug a whole forest all at once. You need to hug each part individually. In order to hug the air (which whispers, "Whisha, whisha"), "Just open your arms, / lift up your chin, / and breathe in all the way down to your toes." The meditative tot explains how to hug a leaf, a flower, and even a stream. But how do you hug a trail? "Just open your arms, / lean into each footfall, / and let the ground guide you, / there and back again." The lulling, quiet text washes over readers, following a repetitive structure ("How do you hug...?" "Like this") that brings comfort and stability. Hevron's cozy illustrations are painted directly on a wooden canvas, with wood grain peeking through delightfully in places. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Plenty of opportunity for stillness and nature appreciation, wherever you may be. (Picture book. 2-6)
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March 20, 2023
Gilbert (Too Much Slime!) answers the title’s question with a set of instructions. Beginning with the answer (“Of course you can./ You’ll need a forest, though”), the second-person address accompanies images of a doll-like, stylized child with light brown skin and scribbly pigtails. Hevron (The Tide Pool Waits) paints the child on wooden panels, alongside flowers, birds, and trees outlined with thick, oil-pastel-like strokes. Having provided a forest (“Here is one”) and two arms (“Here are two. One. Two”), Gilbert continues in onomatopoeic how-to lines: “First, you hug the air./ Whisha, whisha, it says,/ whispering secrets from the sky.” Curling light blue lines represent breezes; a red-crested woodpecker flies above the child. “Just open your arms,/ lift up your chin,/ and breathe all the way down to your toes.” There are as many ways to hug the forest as there are parts of it, and every element—a leaf, a flower, a forest trail, and more—gets a spread of its own that reveals its distinctive sounds and textures. Each one is personified with merry, pin-dot features that make the forest look like a toy shop, and the child reacts actively to each one in this sensorially focused encounter with the natural world. Ages 4–8. Illustrator’s agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions.
June 1, 2023
PreS-Gr 2-In acrylic paints and pencil on wood, a child with scribbles for bangs, two puffs of hair, and skin tone that implies the wood showing through, goes for a walk in a natural setting that includes smiling leaves, benevolent creatures, wind that says "whisha, whisha," and creepy-crawlies that are anything but creepy. Yes, this child can hug a forest, and a leaf, a stream, and experience all of nature, and whether the walk is long or short, Gilbert and Hevron provide a simple, sweet path to teaching children how to allow the sensory experience of the world to take over. For classroom simulation, educators taking group walks, or city preschoolers dipping their toes into the wild, this is a mellow introduction. VERDICT An amiable amble, and an additional purchase.-Kimberly Olson Fakih
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