Hug Me [Hardcover]

Ever feel like you need a hug, a really big hug from someone? That's how Felipe the young cactus feels, but his family just isn't the touchy-feely kind. Cactuses can be quite prickly sometimes you know . . . and so can Felipe. But he'll be darned if this one pointy issue will hold him back, so one day Felipe sets off on his own to find a friend and just maybe, that long awaited hug.

In her debut picture book, Simona Ciraola creates an endearing tale of friendship, beautifully illustrated with buoyant wit and the perfect story to share.Best Children's Book of 2014, Brain Pickings

There is, of course, a deeper allegorical undertone to the tale, beyond the surface interpretation of celebrating one’s inner softness in a culture that encourages a prickly exterior. A subtle undercurrent celebrates the spiritual homecoming of finding one’s tribe, the expansive embrace found in a kinship of souls. The story is also a celebration of free will, reminding us ever so gently that whatever our circumstances, we always have choices — and that our inability to see this is perhaps our gravest self-imposed limitation.
—Brain Pickings

Unlikely friends come together in Hug Me, by the Italian author Simona Ciraolo. She uses whimsical, jagged colored-pencil drawings to portray Felipe, a young cactus who just wants someone to wrap his arms around.
—The New York Times

There’s a coy relationship between the text and artwork in Italian-born author/illustrator Ciraolo’s U.S. debut […] Ciraolo’s softly drawn cartoon cacti radiate charm.
—Publisher’s Weekly

Ciraola tells her story with wry understatement, allowing her expressive illustrations to carry the narrativlóƒ