Forget all that daft cuddling Nordic nonsense. If you want a winter hug, grab yourself a book.
In fact grab yourself a book about an engaging fellah who could hug the living daylights out of you with his eight arms, the fantastic effervescent central character in "Also an Octopus"
Octopus has big dreams. He's a talented ukulele player and normally such a happy chap, but there's one thing Octopus wants more than anything else.
To go into space, aboard his very own purple rocket ship.
Octopus is no astronautical engineer though and despite his well-meaning effort, his purple sticky waffle-covered spaceship will never reach the outermost edge of the stratosphere in a month of sundays.
Oh poo!
Perhaps with a little help from his chums he might just find a mess of help to realise his dream. After all, if there's one thing rocket scientists really like it's a bit of ukulele music!
What a dream team Maggie and Benji make, with the weirdest and whackiest fun story being gorgeously illustrated (as usual, how DOES he DO it!!!) by Benji.
This is a happy hug of a book, so whack on some hot chocolate, grab yourself a super-sized slice of carrot cake and sit yourselves down with a belter of a read
Charlotte's favourite bit: Octopus's super-sleep spaceship (complete with, er, sticky waffle adornments)
Daddy's favourite bit: A fabulous slice of nonsense with the most endearing and engaging characters, beautifully told and illustrated. Perfect anti-winter fare!
"Also an Octopus" is out now, published by Walker Books (kindly sent for review).