Plenty of Hugs

by Fran Manushkin

Other authorsKate Alizadeh (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 2020

Status

Available

Publication

Dial Books (2020), Edition: Illustrated, 32 pages

Library's review

A sweet portrait of parental love, notable for its depiction of a two-mom family.

The text neither names nor defines the family relationships in this picture book, so Alizadeh’s art takes the lead in depicting two women and their baby. One mother appears white, with light skin and short-cropped
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brown hair, while the other has long, dark, wavy hair and a slightly darker skin tone. Their child has coloring more like that of the latter mother and is clearly abundantly loved by both parents. The illustrations depict the family riding their bicycles to a farm and a zoo before heading home for dinner, a bath, and bedtime. The loose linework, gentle palette, and soft visual texture of the art is a perfect match for the lilting, easy cadence of the affirming text: “There’s a buzz for each bug, / and a breeze for each tree, / and plenty of hugs for you and me.” The speaker and addressee of this line and others are never defined, which underscores the clarity of Alizadeh’s intention in depicting this particular queer family constellation. “You” could have been depicted as one person, after all, but this line is accompanied by a group hug shared by the child and two moms.

Plenty of need for this warm hug of a book.
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Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2020

ISBN

0525554017 / 9780525554011

Barcode

1614
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