Hugless Douglas

Story

Douglas is a lovable young brown bear in search of the perfect hug. He spends the morning trying to find one, but none of them seems quite right.

Why we chose it

Douglas is very popular with visitors to The Story Museum and this is a much loved bedtime story.

Where it came from

David studied art in London and photography in Blackpool. He worked as a freelance illustrator and in animation studios before writing and illustrating his own books.

The idea for Hugless Douglas came to him when he was reading bedtime stories to his son and they were having lots of different kinds of hugs.

Where it went next

Hugless Douglas has become a popular character. There is now a Hugless Douglas app, an interactive ebook with animations, sound effects, games as well as Alan Davis reading the story.

Associated stories

There are a number of books featuring Hugless Douglas including, Hugless Douglas and the Big Sleep (2012), We love you Hugless Douglas! (2013), Don’t Worry Hugless Douglas (2014), Hugless Douglas and the Great Cake Bake (2016), Hugless Douglas goes to Little School (2017), Hugless Douglas and the Baby Birds (2019) and Hugless Douglas plays Hide and Seek (2020)

Living Paintings adapted Hugless Douglas to make a tactile, audio and braille book for blind and partially sighted children to enjoy.

Another David Melling book, The Kiss that Missed (2011) was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway award.