CUDDLES FOR MOMMY

Little Owl has a whole catalog full of cuddles, but she can’t decide which one to give Mommy.

There is the good-morning cuddle, the goodbye cuddle, the apology cuddle, the bad-dream cuddle, the thank-you cuddle, the “really happy” cuddle, the proud cuddle, the get-better cuddle, and the good-night cuddle, but none of these is exactly right for the kind of cuddle Little Owl wants to give “RIGHT NOW.” She and her mother go over the list and discuss the circumstances for which each one is appropriate. “Have you done something wrong, Little Owl, or made a mistake?” Mommy asks, but Little Owl doesn’t think so. Little Owl can give a thank-you cuddle later on, since they’re going to the bookstore in the afternoon. And it’s “a good thing” that Little Owl isn’t feeling sick right now. Finally Little Owl has a brainstorm: the “Mommy Cuddle! Just because I love you!” Brown’s consciously cute text is well-matched by Macnaughton’s soft-focus illustrations. They present anthropomorphized barn owls who knit, play the trumpet, and effortlessly turn pages with their wings; Little Owl wears huge, round spectacles as well. However thoroughly it examines its theme, however, this does not rise above the mountains of “I love you a whole lot!” books crowding the shelves.

Cuddles are nice, but this book isn’t needed to prompt them