3rd December Let's Hug Day

What do you do on this day? Hug someone.

The hug is a universal form of showing affection. While certain forms of greeting might change based on culture, like the handshake or the bow or the high five, the hug seems to be universal among almost all cultures in places all over the world.

It was the last day of school for the students in my school, so today was certainly a day for hugs!

There are so many avenues to explore using good picture books:

What if you really want a hug but can't find one?

see 

• Hugless Douglas  by David Melling. My preschoolers always have great fun trying all the hugs on the final pages.

• The Hug  by Eion McLaughlin

What if you want a hug, but no-one is prepared to give you one, say because you have prickles?

see 

• Hug Me  by Simona Ciraolo

• How to Hug a Cactus  by Emily Smith

• I Need a Hug  by Aaron Blabey

What if you just want to say hello, but you either don't like hugs or they are not allowed?

see

• While We Can't Hug  by Eion McLaughlin

• Same Love, Different Hug  by Sarah Horvorka

• Don't Hug Doug  by carrie Finison

• Don't Hug the Quokka  by Daniel Errico

• The Big Hug  by Megan Walker

What is the best hug?

see

• The Very Best Hug by Smitri Halls

• Who Wants a Hug?  by Jeff Mack

• The Perfect Hug by Joanna Walsh

• I'm Going to Give You a Bear Hug by Caroline Cooney

And just for fun!

• Hug Machine  by Scott Campbell

• The Runaway Hug by Nick Bland

21st November World Hello Day

World Hello Day is celebrated on November 21st, highlighting the beauty of greeting one another and the importance of personal communication for living together in peace. The greeting is a sign of respect, recognition, and in sum, a way to say: "I see you, and wish you the best". 

I have written about this day before, but as I begin to gather books together for the start of the new year, I think about how important it will be to say hello to new peers and include them in your circle. Teachers will come looking for books that set a tone of welcome and inclusion and which assure students that even though a friend is in another class now, you will still see them often and you will make new friends as well.

Here are some of the books in my pile so far:

• Say Goodbye ... Say Hello  by Cori Doerrfeld

• Say Hello  by Jack and Michael Foreman

• Old Friends, New Friends  by Andrew Daddo

• How Do You Say Hello?  by Ashleigh Barton

• Hello and Welcome  by Gregg Dreise

• Say Hello! by Linda Davick

• Say Hello! by Rachel Isadora

• Hello, Friend! by Rebecca Cobb

• Hello: A Counting Book of Kindnesses by Hollis Kurman

• Hello!  by Tony Flowers

• Hello by Viola Wang

• Say Hello? by Sung Mi Kim

• All Are Welcome  by Alexandra Penfold

• A World for Me and You: Where Everyone is Welcome  by Uju Asika

• Ways to Welcome by Linda Ashman

• The Circles All Around Us  by Brad Montague

• Circle Round  by Anne Sibley O'Brien

21st November World Hello Day

World Hello Day is observed annually on November 21, to express that conflicts should be resolved through communication rather than the use of force. Participants verbally greet ten people or more on that day as an expression of the importance of personal communication in preserving peace. The annual global event began to be celebrated in 1973 as a response to the Yom Kippur War.  

On this day, people are encouraged to participate by simply greeting 10 people. Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize are among the people who have noted World Hello Day’s value as an instrument for preserving peace and as an occasion that makes it possible for anyone in the world to contribute to the process of creating peace.

So on this day do try to greet at least 10 people. You might also make a point of 'saying hello' to some of the Nobel Peace Prize winners by reading 'their' picture books. Our library has biographies of

Jane Addams (1931)

• The House That Jane Built 

Martin Luther King (1964) 

• Martin Luther King Jnr

• Martin's Big Words

Mother Teresa (1979) 

• Mother Teresa 

• Mother Teresa

Nelson Mandela (1993) 

• Nelson Mandela

• Long Walk to Freedom 

• Nelson Mandela 

Wangari Muta Maathai (2004) 

• Wangari Maathai

• Planting the Trees of Kenya

• Mama Miti

• Planting Peace

• Wangari's Trees of Peace

Barack Obama (2009)

At the moment there are not any biographies about Obama in the library, but students know who is and there is one about his wife Michelle Obama.

Malala Yousafzai (2014)

• Malala: Activist for Girls' Education

• Malala Yousafzai

• Malala's Magic Pencil

• The Right To Learn 

Another way to celebrate this day is one we have done before. Look in your catalogue and collect together all the books that have the word 'hello' in the title. We displayed them for borrowing and asked the students who were browsing the books to say why all these books were there together? The children love guessing what all the books have in common. We had more than twenty books with 'Hello' in the title. Here's some: