Every now and then I read a children's picture book that just makes squeal and go "awwwww" until the cows come home, and "Hugs from Pearl" by Paul Schmid is one such book. Pearl is a sweet little porcupine who shares, plays nice, and is the best friend to everyone. Her classmates love her. Pearl likes to give her friends hugs but that is hard to do because they get pricked by her quills. Although it hurts them, her friends and classmates accept the hugs without too much fuss because the teacher keeps plenty of band aids on hand. Pearl doesn't like hurting her friends, so she goes on a quest to give painless hugs. I won't give away the ending but her solution is the most adorable childlike solution. With simple and spare pencil drawings and dreamy pastel water colors, Paul Schmid gives life to one cute and huggable porcupine. ( )

Pearl the porcupine loves giving hugs, but has to figure out a way of doing it without hurting her friends with her quills.

Unadulterated adorable.

Re-read January 28, 2015. Still adorable. ( )

I loved the illustrations in this sweet, slight book. Pearl the porcupine has the slightest rosy blush, and her tiny face is so expressive that you want to hug her. Oh, wait! Hugging Pearl can be problematic, or so her classmates find out. What Pearl tries in order to make herself more huggable makes up the entire story here. Would be fun to read aloud, especially with a prickly child. ( )

Who wouldn't want to hug such an adorable porcupine? ( )

Sweet and soft, like a hug itself (although not one from Pearl!), and beautifully illustrated. There's a wonderful message here about loving yourself and loving others, and finding creative solutions to difficult problems! ( )