Hug me /

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Ever feel like you need a hug, a really big hug from someone? That's how Felipe the young cactus feels, but his family just isn't the touchy-feely kind. Cactuses can be quite prickly sometimes you know . . . and so can Felipe. But he'll be darned if this one pointy issue will hold him back, so one day Felipe sets off on his own to find a friend and just maybe, that long awaited hug.

In her debut picture book, Simona Ciraola creates an endearing tale of friendship, beautifully illustrated with buoyant wit and the perfect story to share.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Felipe's family is more interested in decorum than in the display of physical or emotional affection. Time to call child protective services? Well, no, since Felipe and his clan are cacti-prickliness is part of their nature. That doesn't stop Felipe from trying to satisfy his craving for a hug, a search that leads him to leave home and eventually become a hermit, unable to find anyone willing to hug him. There's a coy relationship between the text and artwork in Italian-born author/illustrator Ciraolo's U.S. debut. Nowhere does she mention that Felipe and his family are cactuses, instead letting the artwork fill in the details. For example, a "bold and confident" friend Felipe makes early on is revealed to be a deranged-looking yellow balloon; "Cactus Attack" screams a newspaper headline after "disaster" strikes ("Felipe was blamed and made to feel very bad"). Ciraolo's softly drawn cartoon cacti radiate charm-Felipe has a tiny pink flower on his head and a range of emotive expressions. While the story ends abruptly with Felipe meeting a craggy new companion, endpapers give readers a taste of the fun their friendship promises. Ages 3-7. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Kirkus Book Review

All Felipe wants is a hugtrouble is, Felipe is a cactus. Not only is he a cactus, his family members are terrible snobs who "[believe] one should never trespass into another's personal space." They are also a great variety of cactus types, but what they lack in botanical consistency they make up for in an unfriendly uniformity of expression. Felipe appears to be a baby barrel cactus, with one bright pink flower atop his head. He is a lot less interested in "reach[ing] a high position," as his family tells him he will, than in just getting a hug. His family not being "the touchy feely type," he just has to hope that somebody else will come along. One day he makes friends with a balloon, with disastrous results. (The headlines read "Cactus Attack: Balloon in Hospital" and "Shame on the Family.") He uproots himself to find companionship (his bare stump looks amusingly like tighty whiteys, and he walks on impossibly tiny pipe-stem legs). He resigns himself to life as a hermit till one day he hears weeping: It is Camilla, a lonely rock, and at last Felipe gets his hug. Ciraola tells her story with wry understatement, allowing her expressive illustrations to carry the narrative. Her palette is greens and pinks against cream-colored negative space with a few sandy pebbles added to situate Felipe and his family in their desert habitat. Though Felipe's not the first prickly children's-book character ever to want a hug, he certainly is a charmer. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Author notes provided by Syndetics

Simona Ciraolo is a Sardinian born author and illustrator whose buoyantly witty and endearing tales recently won her the Sebastian Walker Award.

Ciraolo studied animation at the National Film School in Turin, Italy, before moving to the United Kingdom where she undertook an MA in children's book illustration at the Cambridge School of Art. She has also worked as a freelance 2D animator for children's TV shows and illustrated five picture books for an independent Italian publisher.