Douglas is a big, adorable, brown bear who is the main character in several picture books. As we couldn’t decide which was our favourite story we are recommending two!
Hugless Douglas
The Story: Douglas wakes up and goes to look for a hug. After several disastrous attempts at hugging various objects and animals Douglas meets a rabbit who takes him to a familiar cave. Inside the cave Douglas finds the best person to give him the big hug that he is looking for!
Don’t Worry Hugless Douglas
The Story: Douglas’ dad gives him a new woolly hat but unfortunately while Douglas is showing it off to his friends the hat starts to unravel. Various animals try to help him but Douglas is just worried about what his dad will say. Rabbit convinces him that honesty is the best policy and that he should simply tell his Dad what happened.
Both these stories highlight the relationship between a parent and child and at the end the solution to Douglas’ problem lies within the security of his own family. Douglas is a character that children can easily identify with and he is supported by a cast of wonderfully drawn animal friends to help (and sometimes hinder!) him. I love the way that a big brown bear is portrayed as young and unsure about how to deal with familiar childhood situations as this shows children that you don’t just have to be small to have worries or problems. The humour in David Melling’s illustrations will be appreciated by adults and children alike, the pictures really do tell the story with the text playing a supporting role.
This are great stories which entertainingly demonstrate how children can resolve familiar problems.
Age Range: 2 +
Author / Illustrator: David Melling
We adore both books around our house. While my daughter (almost three) liked the stories before, she is now starting to appreciate the humor too. The different kinds of hats on the last page never fail to leave her in fits of giggles. But she always wants to help too and has offered Douglas hugs and tells him not to worry 🙂 I may have to buy more Douglas books!
We love choosing hats and hugs from the range at the back of the books. It’so sweet that your daughter wants to comfort Douglas when he needs help 🙂
This looks like such a sweet series! Thanks for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop once again – nice to see you again. You always make wonderful recommendations for books. 🙂
Thank you. I always find great blogs on the Kid Lit Blog Hop 🙂
Aw, sounds like we need to go make friends with this Douglas! Max’s best friend LOVES giving hugs, but when Max gets tired (which is just when Momma picks him up after work, of course), he doesn’t want to give hugs. Wy always gets so sad!
Douglas finds a great person to give him the hug that he is looking for :). It is difficult for children to know how to feel when a hug gets rejected. My daughter loves giving hugs but I also know children who aren’t at all huggy – it’s a difficult one for the young hugger to understand!
Oops, i forgot to say, Thank you so much for linking into the Kid Lit Blog Hop! I’m following you on Twitter. I hope you join us again in March!
We absolutely adore Hugless Douglas. We’ve read the first book but not Don’t Worry Hugless Douglas so will have to get our hands on that one. He’s such a cute and lovable character and, like you, I love the way he is portrayed as being so young and a bit unsure. #MadMidweekBlogHop
I think that Hugless’ Douglas’ insecurity in some situations is something that young children can really relate to 🙂
They are such lovely stories #madmidweekbloghop
We love Hugless Douglas here 🙂