To Drool it feels like her mom and dad have been gone an awfully long time. So long that she can hardly taste the fried ice cream Grandma made for dinner, or enjoy hide-and-seek with Kip, Grandma's pet chicken. Not even playing dress-up, having a whole snuggly hugging hour with Grandma, or getting to put the sprinkles on the triple-decker cupcakes can put a smile on Drool's face.
"I'm an orphan," she tells Kip.

A child's first sleepover at Grandma's is given a hilarious and tender treatment in this stunning book by newcomer Aileen Leijten.

Philomel Books
a division of Penguin Young Readers Group
345 Hudson Street
New York, NY 10014
www.penguin.com/youngreaders

Hugging Hour will be available in bookstores on January 22, 2009