One Kiss, One Hug by Jason Chapman is a gorgeous picture book with a Valentine’s Day feel to it. But in fact you could enjoy it any time of the year, just as we have over the past couple of weeks.
What I like most about the book, apart from the sweet storyline about a baby bear who can’t sleep until he gets one kiss and one hug from his Mum and his Dad, is the fact that parents will find it amusing.
‘One kiss, one hug!” Ben yelled.
‘Oh no, this is too much!’ said Mummy Bear.
Up the stairs she went while Daddy Bear helped himself to more than his share of the ice cream.’
In a nutshell, baby bear Ben has tried everything he can to get to sleep. He’s tried both sides of the pillow, kicking off his covers and counting salmon but with no success. All he thinks he needs is one more kiss and one more hug from his Mum and Dad. And when that doesn’t work he keeps asking for more.
There is also a lovely portrayal of sibling affection at the end. If you’ve got an only child there’s a chance they’ll look at you with a slight pang of regret, then ask you to read it all over again.
We’ve both enjoyed this book and highly recommend it.
One Kiss, One Hug by Jason Chapman is published by Random House priced £5.99. We were kindly sent a review copy.
