The reader is invited to consider some things about when, who, and how to hug and also advised to be prepared to receive one in return.

It’s easy to picture hugging a bunny, or even a billy goat…but how would you even begin to try to hug a porcupine? After seeing all his friends hug their favorite animals, one brave boy must grapple with this very question. Eventually he works up the courage to hug a porcupine—but the porcupine isn’t so sure he wants to be hugged! The surprise ending to this humorous tale, complete with charming illustrations, will have kids begging to hear this fun read-aloud again and again!

Will hugging a cactus help it grow? This story follows a little girl who only wants to find a way to hug her beloved cactus without getting hurt. She searches for a solution, but the ideas of her family members don't work. Then, she creates special cactus-hugging gear that solves her prickly problem--and creates a new one! This rhyming story brings humor and heart to the important concept of problem-solving.

A young boy discovers many different kinds of hugs and ways to show love as family members and friends gather to welcome his immigrant relatives from China.

Amy Guglielmo, Jacqueline Tourville, and Giselle Potter come together to tell the inspiring story of autism advocate Dr. Temple Grandin and her brilliant invention: the hug machine. As a young girl, Temple Grandin loved folding paper kites, making obstacle courses, and building lean-tos. But she really didn’t like hugs. Temple wanted to be held—but to her, hugs felt like being stuffed inside the scratchiest sock in the world; like a tidal wave of dentist drills, sandpaper, and awful cologne, coming at her all at once. Would she ever get to enjoy the comfort of a hug? Then one day, Temple had an idea. If she couldn’t receive a hug, she would make one…she would build a hug machine!

Includes a detachable folded poster of "The Hatrix."