Celebrate Valentine's Day
I made my dog a valentine,
she sniffed it very hard,
then chewed on it a little while
and left it in the yard.
I made one for my parakeets,
a pretty paper heart,
they pulled it with their claws and beaks
until it ripped apart.
I made one for my turtle,
all he did was get it wet,
I wonder if a valentine
is wasted on a pet.
-- Jack Prelutsky
For information and activities about Valentine's Day please visit:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentines_day
http://www.history.com/content/valentine
http://www.pbs.org/parents/special/vday.html
Contributor: Emily Griffin
Reviews
Amelia Bedelia's First Valentine
Herman Parish
Illustrated by Lynne Avril
Amelia Bedelia is at it again. Valentine's Day is just around the corner and she cannot wait to get started on her cards for her classmates. She races home from school to find her mom playing cards. She peeks over her shoulder and wonders aloud why her mom has so many Valentines! Her mom hands her a new deck of cards and sends her off to the kitchen for a snack. She gets right to work on the cards for her friends but the Valentines confuse her. "Hi Heartbreaker!" She places a bandage on the broken heart. She throws peanuts in the envelope belonging to the card that reads, "I'm NUTS for you!" The next one says, "You're 2 COOL." She has no choice but to warm it up! She arrives to school the next day, ready to celebrate with her friends. Oh no! Amelia Bedelia left her Valentines on the school bus. She begins to cry but not for long. This quirky little girl figures out a way to spread love in a most ideal way. The gouache and black pencil illustrations are engaging and dear and will delight readers of all ages. What fun it is to see Amelia Bedelia as a little girl! Her antics will have everyone laughing in no time. This is a must have for Amelia lovers and also for those who are just getting acquainted. 2009, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, Ages 4 to 8, $16.99. Reviewer: Summer Whiting (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-06-154458-3
ISBN: 978-0-06-154459-0
Baby, I Love You
Karma Wilson
Illustrated by Sam Williams
The illustrations in this board book are delightful. Babies of various ethnicities and sexes fill the pages. While they are drawn without much detail--button like eyes and a line for a nose or mouth, the emotions being conveyed are quite clear and easily discerned. Each page declaims why the reader/author loves his or her baby. It could be those little hands and fingers, or teensy feet and toes, or a big round belly with its little belly button, or a chubby face and checks. Each of these little charmers has a cuddly toy that appears in the large image as well as a decoration on the page with the text. All of the images and text are set out on crisp white pages which make for a very attractive and appealing layout. While the toddlers are not depicted in detail there are many items in the pictures that can lead to further discussion and interaction between a child and the reader. 2009, Little Simon/Simon & Schuster, Ages 2 to 4, $7.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1910-0
Be Mine
Sabrina James
Jennifer Harris is in a pickle. She rashly agreed to bring her boyfriend to Claudia Monroe's Valentine's Day party. Problem is Jennifer's romantic boyfriend, invented on the spot for Claudia's benefit, does not exist. Now she must muster up a boyfriend in four days or risk loosing face to the biggest snob and popular girl at North Ridge High. Enter Will Sinclair. With devilish good looks and a reputation to match, The Heartbreaker relishes the thought of Claudia getting her comeuppance and agrees to pose as Jennifer's boyfriend. As the two perfect their cover story, Jennifer finds herself irresistibly attracted to the previously unknown side of Will. While containing plenty of cheese, this story has some surprisingly non-fluffy moments. The theme may be about finding true love, yet many of the characters also find themselves. Jennifer remains a positive model of someone who stands up for herself no matter what. Natalie, formerly Flabtastica, finds the courage to reveal her weight struggles and see the beauty of an unpopular "fat kid." Eden discovers her multiple break-ups have nothing to do with her not being good enough and everything to do with whom she has been choosing to date. All told, this is an enjoyably cheese romance that also contains some powerful truths. 2009, Point/Scholastic, Ages 13 up, $6.99. Reviewer: Amalia Selle (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780545097390
ISBN: 0545097398
Chrissa
Mary Casanova
When Chrissa begins classes at a new school, she is eager to make friends. But it isn't easy being the new girl. On the first day of school, Chrissa overhears children talking about her. When she steps into Edgewater Elementary, Chrissa meets several mean girls. Tara and Jadyn are determined to make Chrissa's life miserable, and Sonali is torn between joining the Queen Bees and making new friends. It doesn't help that today is Valentine's Day--and that Chrissa received just one valentine in her box. Did the entire class forget to send her a valentine? During her early days at this school, Chrissa is bullied by Tara and Jadyn. But slowly Chrissa makes friends with Gwen, Sonali, and other girls. Then a terrible thing happens--and the Queen Bees of Edgewater Elementary School point their fingers at Chrissa. Should Chrissa tell the truth? If she tells what really happened, will everyone think she is a tattletale? In this well-crafted story, Mary Casanova brings the issue of bullying to life through the eyes of a spirited and sympathetic heroine, Chrissa. 2009, American Girl, Ages 8 to 12, $6.95. Reviewer: Suzanna E. Henshon, Ph.D. (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9781593695668
ISBN: 1593695667
Dizzy in Your Eyes: Poems About Love
Pat Mora
In the introductory material readers learn that most of the poems started out as free verse in which Mora addresses various forms of love--filial, boyfriends, pets and just those warm fuzzy feeling caused by caring for someone or something. Mora decided to take some of her poems and put them into forms some of which like tercet, tanka, letter, pantoum, sestina and villanelle are not all that familiar while sonnet, cinquian, haiku, dialogue and list are much more familiar formats. The effect is to create a varied collection held together by the subject of love. Some poems will bring back memories of first love, friendships that lasted through school but were shattered when it came time for the prom. Perhaps that one held a special significance because it stayed with me-the boy whose company you have enjoyed for years asks someone else to the prom, (your heart almost stops.) There are wonderful poems celebrating an older couple's long life together, family outings and the unfailing love of parents and unquestioning love of a pet for its owner or vice versa. One of the poetic forms used to great effect is the tercet (Revenge X3) where a young man slips the same note to three girls, but finally gets his comeuppance. Yet another wonderful poem, Sisters, extols all the positive aspects of sisterhood. A nice item to be shared with ones own sisters. Teachers should be able to make effective use of this collection and students are bound to find several poems that will resonate. 2010, Knopf/Random House, Ages 10 up, $15.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-375-84375-4
Guess Who?
Lola Schaefer
For a little fun on Valentine's Day, this board book is a good choice. It is a guessing game that will be fun for little ones as they unfold the large full-page size flaps to create a page that is four times the size of the book. The text may be a bit sophisticated for the intended audience. How many toddlers will understand "Say you love me more than a tad..." but it does offer a teachable moment. This first request is to join someone or something on its lily pad. Flip up the page and the words "Guess Who? I'm a ..." appear along with a bit more of the picture. The final flap when opened completes the image and provides the answer--"Frog!" The same format is followed for a kitten, owl, skunk and sea star. An interesting combination of animals who are all reprised on the final spread. 2009, Little Simon/Simon & Schuster, Ages 2 to 4, $7.99. Reviewer: Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5910-6
Henry in Love
Peter McCarty
Illustrated by Peter McCarty
The gentle sprinkles of delicate flowers seem to be an artistic theme that hints of Henry's fanciful thoughts as the flowers appear and reappear on the cover, title page, and some of the illustrations. The story opens with Henry waking up and beginning his day by preparing for school, while his mother finishes packing lunches for him and his brother. A blueberry muffin is the special treat that she adds into their lunch bags. Even Sancho, Henry's friend, gets one too when he stops by to walk to school with Henry and his brother. On the way to school, the trio meet an older student whose sister, Chloe, is in Henry's class. Henry's thoughts about Chloe are shared with the reader. How will quiet Henry talk to Chloe, who he thinks is the "loveliest girl in his class?" The illustrations seem to reflect Henry's soft, quiet manner. Color is used in gentle tones and does not overwhelm the pages. The story moves quickly through the school day and a few of the transitions from different points of the story are sudden. Lunch time seems to abruptly take place; the game of tag breaks off; in just moments back in the classroom after changing seating arrangements, it is snack time. In class discussions, students may speculate reasons for the way the story flows and how the flowers in illustrations represent a theme. 2010, Balzer & Bray/HarperCollins, Ages 3 to 6, $16.99. Reviewer: Carrie Hane Hung (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-06-114288-8
ISBN: 978-0-06-114289-5
Hugaboo, I Love You
Hans Wilhelm
What is a "hugaboo?" Apparently, it is just a made up word for an ordinary hug. The pictures are amusing and the expressions created mostly with the eyes will bring smiles to little ones. The nearly full page flaps reveal another picture of the big hug and answer the implied question. "If you were a little octopus..." lift the flap and learn that "...you would get a WET hugaboo!" There are sheep, a kangaroo, porcupine, lion cub, giraffe and finally on the last page a very large bear. Open both flaps which make up its arms and you get your own hugaboo. Silly fun with attractive watercolor and pencil illustrations. 2009, Cartwheel/Scholastic, Ages 1 to 3, $8.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-545-11510-0
I Love Chocolate
Davide Calì
Illustrated by Evelyn Daviddi
Why do I love chocolate?" If chocolate lovers need any reasons, here they are. Our narrator loves the bars with their crunch and surprises inside. He loves all the different kinds. Chocolate makes so many bad times "better," and every day a celebration. We readers must think about our chocolate eating style, from "dainty chocolate dabbler" to "monster muncher," and from "by the handful" to "one at a time." Chocolate does make for happiness. "The only hard part about loving chocolate is eating too much." There is a raw directness to Daviddi's cartoony ink-and-paint characters. Large heads allow for exaggerated emotional reactions to the chocolate with wide open mouths and lots of teeth, very wide smiles sometimes with a tip of tongue showing, etc. There is only a hint of context here and there amid the various forms of chocolate that spill over onto the end pages. It is fun to make the mouth water. The jacket has a poster on the reverse. 2009, Tundra Books, Ages 3 to 6, $12.95. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780887769122
ISBN: 0887769128
I Spy I Love You
Jean Marzollo
Photographs by Walter Wick
The familiar, "I Spy" format is followed in this book and the real difference is the subject matter. Many of the items are related to loving relationships--from heart shapes to a bride and groom, a doll to hug and plenty of valentines. After looking for the items in the illustrations, there are several pages of exercises--looking for matching words, looking for those that start with a certain letter or letter combination of words that end with a specific set of letters, and finally words that rhyme. A book that will appeal to kids who enjoy challenges and who like the "I Spy" format. A Level 1 reader--sight words, words to sound out, and simple sentences are the hallmark of this level. 2009, Cartwheel/Scholastic, Ages 3 to 6, $3.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-545-12513-0
ISBN: 0-545-12513-8
Juliet the Valentine Fairy
Daisy Meadows
Valentine's Day is supposed to be full of love and happiness, but this year things have gone terribly wrong. "Friends and families are fighting. Sweethearts are falling out of love. People are not thinking about one another's feelings!" It seems that Jack Frost and his goblin crew have stolen three magical Valentine's Day presents (the presents stand for three kinds of love--family love, sweetheart love, and friendship) from Juliet, the Valentine Fairy. If the presents are not returned to Fairyland, a spell cast by Jack Frost will "ensure that every card or present will have the opposite effect of what it should." Can best friends, Kirsty and Rachel, work together to save this special holiday? Or will their quarreling guarantee Jack Frost's success? This chapter book, which follows the format of previous books in the "Rainbow Magic" series, is illustrated with simple line drawings. Daisy Meadows is the pseudonym for the four writers who created this commercial series. 2009, Scholastic, Ages 6 to 8, $6.99. Reviewer: Anita Barnes Lowen (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 0-545-14886-3
ISBN: 978-0-545-14886-3
Kiss Kiss
Selma Mandine
Translated by Michelle Williams
"What's a kiss like?" That is the question an appealing teddy bear asks in this charming book for the tiniest of tots. A sweet, little round-faced boy, snuggled warmly in his hat and scarf, tries to answer, but there are many ways to explain a kiss. It can be soft or prickly and tickly. Grandpa's long white beard makes a kiss just like cotton candy while Grandma's kiss is noisy and funny. Then there is Christopher, who loves chocolate, so all his kisses taste sweet, while Rex the dog gives wet, sloppy kisses. The little boy explains to the teddy that he has many people who love him so he gets plenty of kisses. Teddy still does not exactly understand so the boy gives him a kiss and the reassurance that he is loved. The simple text and the softly done illustrations come together to make a perfect bedtime story for a young child. 2009 (orig. 2008), Golden Books/Random House, Ages 2 to 5, $9.99. Reviewer: Carolyn Mott Ford (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-375-86431-5
ISBN: 978-0-375-96431-2
Love
Rosemary Wells
In a very simple board book, Baby Max lets us know who he loves best. It opens with Mama who comes and wakes him up. Next he loves the one who takes him out for a ride and in this picture it looks like that is Dad. The car even has a shiny bumper and headlight trim for kids to run their fingers over. Baby Max loves his sister because she plays with him and he loves his baby sitter who could easily be grandma because she stays with him all night. We know it is night because there is a shiny crescent moon showing through the window. The closing spread asks readers to guess who Max loves the most. The last picture gives the answer and it may be a surprise. Rosemary Wells' well-known characters appear in good form in this easy to digest story. 2010, Viking/Penguin, Ages 1 to 3, $5.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-670-01172-8
Melvin's Valentine
John Scieszka
Have you ever received a valentine for an anonymous sender? Melvin did and he is fretting because he really wants to know who the mysterious sender is. As he travels around, he asks various buddies--Kat, Jack, Pete, Lucy and Pat if they sent the card. Each denies that he or she was the mysterious sender. In the background of several pictures, little Rita keeps going "beep, beep." But Melvin seems clueless. Finally, she catches up with him and thanks him for showing everyone her valentine. Now Melvin is happy, the sender is no longer a mystery. However, what is not really clear is whether this was a valentine from Rita to Melvin or a valentine that Rita had received and shared with him. The kids who enjoy this holiday as well as the "Trucktown" series may find this tale amusing. A Level 1 book in the "Ready-To-Roll" series, this title features a simple story, and reasonably long sentences. 2010, Simon & Schuster, Ages 3 to 5, $3.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-1-4169-4144-6
Mr. Valentine
Mara Conlon
Wubbzy, Walden and Widget are distressed. It is Valentine's Day and they have not received a single card. What is going on? At the post office, they find bags of cards and a very sick mailman. Wubbzy and friends offer to make the deliveries. Widget and Walden, however, have their own ideas about how deliveries should be made while Wubbzy gets right to it. In the end, he has to help his friends who have failed to come up with schemes to handle their deliveries. They all have the pleasure of knowing that they have brought some joy into the lives of those waiting for their cards to be delivered. Best of all, Wubbzy get a super-sized surprise. Cartoon style illustrations and six punch out valentines are part of this book which is based on the Wow! Wow! Wubbzy series on Nick Jr. 2009, Scholastic, Ages 3 to 5, $4.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-545-02585-0
My Heart Is Like a Zoo
Michael Hall
Hall begins with animals peering through the outline of a heart on one side of a red double page. He then shows us zoo animals that include his heart shapes, one per single or double solid color page, as playful rhymed couplets describe their emotions relating to the feelings in his heart. They range from "eager as a beaver" and "...hopeful as a hungry heron fishing for a snake..." to "Brave as a lion, thoughtful as an owl, peaceful as a portly walrus lounging on a towel." The final spread shows all the tired animals at the end of a busy day settled on the shelves above a smiling sleeping youngster. Hall's talents as a graphic designer take on the challenge of basing the representations of twenty animals on heart shapes plus a few geometric shapes: black dots for eyes, triangles for beaks and tusks, etc. The delightfully imaginative creatures illuminate the terse text. The stencil-like animal parts are digitally created using aggressive combinations of non-textured colored shapes. For those readers tempted to try to produce similar creations, Hall demonstrates the birth of his lion on the back of the jacket, along with a challenge to count the more than 300 hearts. Do not miss the contrast of jacket and cover. 2010, Greenwillow Books/HarperCollins, Ages 3 to 7, $16.99. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-06-191510-9
ISBN: 978-0-06-191511-6
My Love Will Be With You
Laura Krauss Melmed
Illustrated by Henri Sorensen
Washington author Laura Krauss Melmed and illustrator Henri Sorensen team up once more on this lovely lullaby book, a companion to their bestselling I Love You as Much.... The earlier book focuses on the mother/child bond; this one gives fathers a voice. In lilting verse, father monkeys, eagles and pandas encourage their offspring to "climb," "soar," and "dream." Sorensen's realistic paintings sweep dramatically across the pages and portray fathers as nurturing, protective and supportive of risk. Each member of your family will probably have a favorite dad. Mine is the homely, gray pigeon who promises his fuzzy squab, "Someday you'll swagger and strut in the park." He provides an important example of a father who, while neither handsome like the featured lion nor majestic like the eagle, still makes a darn good papa. 2009, HarperCollins, $17.99. Ages 3 to 6. Reviewer: Mary Quattlebaum (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 9780061552601
ISBN: 9780061552618
ISBN: 0061552607
ISBN: 0061552615
One Heart: A Valentine Counting Book
Maryann Cocca-Leffler
In this valentine counting book, a young girl has plenty of cards to share with her friends. (Six cards can be cut out from the book and used by the reader.) She has one each for Dad and Mom which together makes two and three for her kittens all of whom have cute names--Cleo, Mindy and Socks. Then there are four valentines for each of her sisters and so on. The numbers continue to increase with nine for the school party including a very special one for a boy named Jake. The party includes lots of sweets and a beautiful valentine for her teacher. Definitely a personal purchase for younger children. 2009, Cartwheel/Scholastic, Ages 3 to 5, $4.99. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-545-10757-0
ISBN: 0-545-10757-1
Sunday Love
Alison Paul
This book tells the adventures of an unusual hero named Bruno the Burglar, a fellow with a criminal addiction to ice cream. When the story opens, Bruno is in jail, but not for long. With Valentine's Day about to arrive, Bruno decides that he needs to escape and find a chocolate sundae for himself. He digs himself out of jail with a spoon and then runs into mishaps involving a soccer team, a cupid in a fountain, a nun teaching school, and a bullfight, among others. Right after he finds his chocolate sundae and is about to eat his prize, the police arrive and Bruno is back in jail. All is saved, however, when the fountain cupid shows up and presents Bruno with a double-dip ice cream cone with a cherry on top. This book, which is aimed at the Valentine's Day market, is not your ordinary picture book. Witty and creative, it is illustrated in shades of red, black, and white. Some illustrations are full-page, while others are contained in panels. The book has almost no text. Instead, most of the illustrations are accompanied by one-word sound descriptions such as "crack," "flap," "whomp," and "whoosh." Similar to a comic book (or to its grown-up relative, the graphic novel), this picture book requires interaction by both parent and child to interpret the illustrations and figure out what is happening (parents may want to read the book first, to give them a head start). Parents should be aware that the book includes a picture of a tiny human skeleton (with a spoon, no less) buried underground; it is a comical image, but it could raise some questions from younger readers. This book is best suited for older children, who are likely to appreciate the unusual format and offbeat story. 2010, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Ages 3 to 9, $16.00. Reviewer: Leona Illig (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 978-0-618-99184-6
Valentine's Day
Reagan Miller
How did Valentine's Day start? According to this title in the "Celebrations in My World" series, the roots of the holiday go back to ancient Rome and its name comes from a priest named Valentine. The customs associated with the holiday spread with the Romans when they conquered most of Europe and later they followed the immigrants from Europe who came to North America. The actual exchange of cards did not begin until the 1400s. The idea seems to have really caught on since more than a billion people mail Valentine's Day cards each year. Among the best known symbols related to this holiday are red hearts and cupid with his arrows. Gifts that are exchanged include candy (usually in red heart-shaped boxes), flowers (especially red roses) and heart shaped cookies. The book contains plenty of trivia about the holiday and a list of countries that celebrate it as well as an activity--making an acrostic valentine. The book closes with a glossary and index. Useful for school and classroom libraries to answer basic questions about this winter holiday. 2009, Crabtree Publishing, Ages 4 to 7, $26.60 and 8.95. Reviewer: Marilyn Courtot (Children's Literature).
ISBN: 987-0-7787-4759-8
ISBN: 978-0-7787-4777-2
To view Valentine's Day reviews from previous years, click one of the following links:
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
Updated 1/25/10
To stay up to date on new books on this topic, consider subscribing to The Children's Literature Comprehensive Database. For your free trial, click here.
If you're interested in reviewing children's and young adult books, then send a resume and writing sample to marilyn@childrenslit.com.