Don’t Put Your Hands in Your Mouth!

While We Can't Hug
Written by Eoin McLaughlin & Illustrated by Polly Dunbar
Age Level: 1-4 Years
Published August 18, 2020

Close at heart, but 6 feet apart.

Pre-pandemic, after taking my children out to play, I always bathed them in hand sanitizer before buckling them into their carseats. But the impulse arose because I was grossed out by all the surfaces they’d touched rather than being rooted in fear. Now, as we tentatively explore the newly opened playgrounds in our city, I’m constantly lunging at my 2-year old’s wrists and drawing her hands away from her face like a textbook germaphobe. So is 2020.

Whether we are getting together with friends or grandparents, playdates look a little different these days. But best friends Hedgehog and Turtle prove that you can still have lots of fun and show that you care about each other, even if you can’t touch. Throughout this sweetly illustrated story, Hedgehog and Turtle socially distance themselves by standing on opposite pages, facing each other. They trade silly faces, paint matching pictures on individual easels, and gather their own sets of instruments and play music together.

“They could not touch. They could not hug.
But they both knew that they were loved.”

Seeing a pandemic playdate beautifully translated into a children’s book helped normalize the experience for my 4-year old son. He of course longs for the good old days when he would pile friends into his bedroom and create a tornado of shared toys all over the floor. This book showed him that he isn’t alone in his new reality, and even better, gave us lots of ideas for how upcoming playdates can still be super fun.