Tuesday Storytime: Love

It doesn't have to be Valentine's Day to do a storytime about love, right? These were picked out by my coworker.

You Are My Happy
Hoda Kotb, illustrated by Suzie Mason
ISBN: 9780062887894

A mama bear and her cub nestle down for the night and recite a list of the day's activities that made them happy, all of them centered around exploring and being together, and ending with the title phrase. A litttle on the cutesy side for me, but the artwork elevates it immensely.

Poor Louie
Tony Fucile
ISBN: 9780763658281

Louie has the best life a chihuahua can have; dinner at the table, movies with mom and dad, long walks, shopping, he has it all. Until things start getting strange. He has to eat on the floor now?! And the cute clothes are all being packed up... ? And Mom's lap keeps getting smaller and smaller. And everyone keeps saying "Pooooor Louie" in this very sad and concerned tone of voice, but sometimes laughing a little. What gives? But baby fever conquers all (as it always seems to) and Louie comes out ok in the end, even if he DOES have to share the stroller with his human baby brother now.

Love Monster and the last chocolate
Rachel Bright
ISBN: 9780374346904

Love Monster loves his friends, but he also loves chocolate. And when you have friends AND chocolate, it's very hard to figure out what is the right thing to do. So when he gets back from his vacation to find a box of chocolates, he's all in a tizzy. Without even opening the box (this is important) he starts pondering the possibilities. A good friend shares, but should he maybe open it first and eat one or two of the ones that he really really really likes FIRST? Or is that not quite friendly? What if his friends can ONLY eat those kinds? OR what if his friends eat ALL of them up and don't realize that he never got one to eat himself? What if there's only ONE in there that he likes and someone ELSE eats it and then there's a whole bunch that he doesn't even like? He gets all flustered, but then he runs out of the house to his friends playing on the hill and explains everything all in a rush, and they just laugh and tell him to open the box - there's only one in there, and they had saved it just for him.

(it's cuter and takes less time to explain in the book, I swear) 

Tuesday Storytime: Loving Feelings

We're getting close to Valentine's Day, and so my coworker is excited about all the sweet loving books there are out there to choose from. She was a bit disappointed that I used Mama, Do You Love Me last week, but these three are just as sweet.

Sam and Jump
Jennifer K. Mann
ISBN: 9780763679477
Jump is Sam's stuffed rabbit, and they're best friends, until a fateful trip to the beach where Sam happily plays with Thomas (yay for an AA character!) ... and LEAVES Jump behind! Happy endings abound, but the book spends a good deal of time with the physical signs of feeling loneliness and guilt and sorrow.

Always
Emma Dodd
ISBN: 9780763675448
Sweet book, but I don't know that I like the silver print conceit enough for it to carry the whole book. I would have maybe liked to see the capstone line repeated through the book to make it more positive and repetitive for younger listeners. Still adorable, just like all of Dodd's work.

I Will Love You
Alyssa Satin Capucilli, illustrated by Lisa Anchin
ISBN: 9780545803106
A white mom and an ambiguously brown curly-haired girl feature in this breezy testament to parental love. Beautiful spreads, but this one is a litttttle too unironically sappy for my taste. It's still very sweet, and sure to tug at the heartstrings of any less cynical parent. Very pretty pastels and water-color feels to the spreads and panels.