Dynomike is depressed and sad, and wants to spread love around as other people are doing. He gets a hug from his friend Barry McDoug, and catches the “love bug” from him, a contagious dose of happiness which he then decides to spread around via more hugs. As Dynomike and Barry go along, they meet a depressed donkey, an owl who’s been the victim of a robbery, even a whole zoo full of animals who’ve all started to cry at once – can they fix everything with their magical hugs?

DYNOMIKE is a sweet little book aimed at a toddler-to-very-early-reader audience, with a simple message and a cheerful tone. The illustrations are probably the best part of the book –  brightly colored and engaging, filling the page dramatically edge-to-edge, with clean lines and simple shapes. The characters are delightful, a variety of creatures with clear personality, drawn with a charming friendliness that will appeal to kids. There’s a repeating chorus that recurs throughout the book, giving little kids a familiar hook to “read” along with, a useful tactic for early literacy. Rhyming is another useful tool for learning to read, and here the rhymes are generally reasonably good and unforced (except for an early attempt to rhyme “love” with “Doug/hugs/plugged”). However, a really common problem in rhyming books for kids is a failure to concentrate on the rhythm of the lines as much as the rhyme. Unfortunately, this book sometimes – though not always – falls prey to this.

There are a number of places where the beats in the lines don’t quite match up, making it a bit awkward to read aloud, and the worst offender is on the first page, meaning that there’s an opportunity missed here to grab and engage attention with a lively, bouncing, musical rhythm. Some parents might also have an issue with a book that urges their kids to hug everyone they meet- consent matters, and so does a certain wariness around strangers (though none of the creatures appear to be strangers to each other, so the book does rather dodge that issue). Still, it’s a cute little tale with bright, attention-grabbing pictures and adorable animals – it’s hard not to like it.

DYNOMIKE: LOVE BUG is a charming book with vivid, lively illustrations, designed to encourage little kids to spread love and hugs.

~Catherine Langrehr for IndieReader