Heartbeats in the Woods: A Children’s Book about Hugs, Family, and Friendship

Follow Bear and his forest companions as they help him rediscover how hugs are made and the importance of friendship!

Bear has forgotten something important--he remembers the feeling and the sound ＂badump, badump, badump＂--but he can’t seem to remember how hugs are made! He holds his arms out in a circle, but it just doesn’t feel right. Bear’s friends Toad, Fox, Dove, and Hedgehog come along one by one and try to help him out, but it isn’t until they all join together that the hug finally feels right and the sound of heartbeats in the woods returns to Bear’s ears once again.

Scenny Orioli was born and raised in Florence and then moved to the Chianti hills. She works primarily in social work and keeps almost all of her publishing projects secret.

Francesco Filippini, director and illustrator, in 2009 wrote and directed his first animated short, Orkiestra, shortlisted for the David di Donatello Award. In 2015 he worked as art director at Bill Plympton’s animation studio on two feature films and a short film, The Loneliest Stoplight, which earned him a gold medal from the Society of Illustrators.

Since 2016 his collaboration with MAD Entertainment Studio in Naples has led him to direct several short films, including Simposio Suino in Re Minore, also a David di Donatello Award nominee, and to work on several feature films including Gatta Cenerentola(Cappiello, Guarnieri, Rak, Sansone, 2017).

He illustrated Un amore sulla testa(by Luana Vergari, 2017), also translated in France and Spain.

Ulysses Press is a book publishing company with offices in Brooklyn, New York, and Berkeley, California.