ward Winner (Best Picture Book)

Dive into the hilarious story of a hug-loving kraken who learns that sometimes it's better to keep your tentacles to yourself.

Klyde the kraken loves nothing more than a good hug, but whenever he tries to hug the animals in the ocean, they all swim away. Then one day, the colossal creature's monstrous embrace takes down a pirate ship and the shipwrecked buccaneers surprise Klyde and the reader with a valuable lesson of emotional literacy: While many friends love to hug, some prefer other ways to greet their mateys.

Brooke Hartman's buoyant, cheerful, and sidesplitting verses combine with Laura Borio's beautifully quirky and charming illustrations to deliver a heart-warming story of social-emotional learning on the high seas.