I LOVE TO CUDDLE

Norac and Dubois administer a tablespoon of sugar, straight up, in this return of Lola the hamster (I Love You So Much, 1997). Lola’s parents are out for a while, so the little rodent is left to her own devices (a babysitter is mentioned but never seen). Lola is lonesome as soon as her folks are out the door: “There’s nobody here to give me a cuddle.” The television is no solace, so Lola sets about gathering up items to make her “very own Cuddle Island.” Blankets and pillows and wads of toilet paper will do; brooms and buckets and pots and pans will not. Her quest for the soft and fluffy is successful but exhausting: Lola’s parents find her asleep amid Cuddle Island’s mountain of comfort. That night, Lola concludes that there is no better Cuddle Island than the spot between her parents in bed. This is cute though not very cuddly (unless it’s shared in a parent’s lap); still, the artwork is loosely atmospheric and the reluctant heroine is full of pluck. (Picture book. 2-6)