Publisher's Weekly Review
This homage to affection from a French team stars Hugs, a farm puppy who is on a mission to find out which animal delivers the best kiss. Each encounter possesses its own distinct characteristics. The horse's delivery, for example, "was a bit damp, of course, and sticky, but it was quite warm." A rabbit's kiss was "a bit wiggley, of course, and quick, but it was quite soft." If the narrative includes a few too many examples and winds up predictably (his mother's kiss is best), Tharlet's paintings carry the volume. Keeping background elements to a minimum, she focuses each of her graceful, gauzy, ink-and-watercolor illustrations on the smooches themselves, which she imagines in endearing vignettes. Hugs rises up on his hind legs to connect with a butterfly and sits blissfully to receive a buss on each cheek from a pair of doting ducks; a comically looming pink sow plants one on the hero's nose. Like a kiss itself, this tale may well be the subject of repeated requests. Ages 3-5. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
Determined to find something out, Hugs the puppy asks various animals to give him a kiss. He discovers that a duckÆs kiss is hard but refreshing, a pigÆs is muddy but tender, and a butterflyÆs is tickly but wonderful. When he gets home, however, he realizes his motherÆs kiss is the best of all. Soft, blurred watercolors give Hugs added personality in this somewhat sentimental but sweet story. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A puppy named Hugs sets out one morning to collect kisses, but after receiving tender, affectionate busses from a horse (on his head), a pig (on his nose), a rabbit (on his neck), ducks (on his cheeks), and even a butterfly ("Oh, so fine, a butterfly's kiss! He'd never felt anything like it before. It tickled a bit, of course, but it was wonderful"), he concludes that Mother's kisses are best. Who would argue? Younger children will be more responsive to Tharlet's (Happy Easter, Davy, not reviewed, etc.) sweet, spacious, fuzzy lined watercolors than to Sendak's naturalistic art in Minarik's near-cousin classic, A Kiss For Little Bear (1968). Tharlet's text has been translated into a lovely childlike voice, earnest and refreshingly sweet. Though Hugs certainly has a blissful time of it, the sentiment never crosses the line into glop. Rare is the child, parent, or older sibling who will be able to resist this invitation to mix reading with kissing. (Picture book. 2-5)
Booklist Review
Ages 3-5. Fans of Weninger's series about the rabbit Davy will recognize illustrator Tharlet's expressive style, even though her character this time is a puppy, Hugs. With fur that seems real enough to touch, a sunny disposition, and sweet manners, Hugs is a real charmer. On a quest to find out what kisses are like, he asks every animal he meets for one. He discovers that they can be sticky, muddy, or on the ticklish side. A duck's buss is a bit hard and wet, but Hugs finds it refreshing; a horse's kiss is damp yet warm; a pig's kiss is bristly but tender. Of course the best kiss of all comes as no surprise: the loving embrace of a mother and son. --Shelley Townsend-Hudson
