The Epic Adventures of Huggie and Stick

A hilarious buddy-comedy picture book starring a grouchy stuffed bunny and a happy-go-lucky stick.

When super cheerful Stick and grumpy stuffed bunny Huggie get thrown from a backpack, the adventure is on! Together this odd couple survives encounters with sea-faring pirates, raging rhinos in Africa, sword-wielding royalty in Europe, stick-eating panda bears in Asia, sharks in Australia, hungry penguins in Antarctica, and piranhas in South America–all before finally making it home to North America. A fantastically funny read-aloud about two unlikely friends and their epic journey around the world.

So Godzila became a put upon stuffed bunny named Huggie, and Stick became smaller and less cumbersome. And thus, Huggie and Stick was born.

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“A surefire read-aloud for any wannabe hero.” —Booklist (starred review)

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My Inspiration for the book

My son once held up a plastic Godzilla missing it’s tail and half an arm and said it was his favorite toy. I asked him what the stick from the back yard in his other hand was. He confidently said that was his favorite toy too. This gave me the idea to someday use an unlikely duo in a buddy comedy travel story about two toys with very different perspectives.  So Godzila became a put upon stuffed bunny named Huggie and Stick became smaller and less cumbersome and Huggie and Stick was born.

With Huggie and Stick, I wanted to take the next step from the Crayons books, where I had shown children how to write persuasive letters. With H&S, I figured we could tackle journaling and diary entries. Then, just for funsies, I threw in a lesson on all the continents as well as an education in perspective (and difference between optimism and pessmism.) All while making them laugh, of course!