One More Hug, feelings of déjà vu-both good and bad

One More Hug is a children’s illustrated book by Megan Alexander with illustrations by Hiroe Nakata. It tells the story that most parents have when they look at their child and can see them grow up right before their eyes. One moment you’re assuring them that the wind blowing outside is nothing to worry about and then before you know it you’re watching them drive off down the street on the way to college. This is a feeling that parents see in their mind’s eye or when they’re looking back at photographs that seem like they were taken yesterday.

It’s all very sweet and seems like a car commercial. Actually, I’m almost positive that this has been a car commercial. It’s been played straight, as well as for laughs and is recycled for every new generation of car buyers.

I’m not trying to be sarcastic to One More Hug. The book is incredibly sweet and tugs at emotions parents of any age child felt or will feel. Heck, our oldest is only 10 and I can imagine a walking flip-photograph show when I see him at times. Yet, there’s just something about One More Hug that feels too smaltzy and not in a yacht rock kind of way.

That effect is not helped by the fact that the author has a note on the final two pages explaining ‘the story behind the story’. Again, it’s an earnest story, about getting boys to hug more instead of just “shaking it off” and not in a Taylor Swift kind of way.

Alexander’s letter in the book ends with her saying that book inspired her to write a lullaby. It’s a gentle, sweet lullaby with a soft country tinge that will certainly please some families. For us though, it’s a little too sweet, more on the sleepy side of lullaby than the kind that gets me thinking about my children.

The art is Hiroe Nakata is great. Her work in children’s illustrated books is instantly recognizable and always comforting to look at for young children. The book, much like the lullaby, will have its fans. But its presentation will have a narrow window of enjoyment for children. Ages 4-6 will like the slow pacing and lovely art, but it might seem too babyish for the older ones even in that narrow range. One More Hug is more of a testament to adults; in order to remind them that their children will only be young for a short period of time than it is an illustrated book that kids will enjoy.

There are affiliate links in this post, because hugs.