It’s Valentine’s Day! Looking for some little unsappy love stories to read to your kiddo? These are a few faves old(er) and new.
The adorable new one:
Twosomes: Love poems from the Animal Kingdom
by Marilyn Singer
Knopf
ISBN: 978 0 375 86710 1
Audience: grades 1-4
This small, slim volume almost escaped my notice at first – it looks like a little gift book, the sort of thing not generally on my radar. I read it, though, and found it funny, charming, and presented in tiny little bites perfect for sharing.
Each two-line poem is what one animal might say to another of its kind, should it find itself in love. The couplets are packed with little jokes and puns, making this really a book for a little older child, as it could easily be totally lost on one too young to pick up on the jokes. For the right kid, though, this is a sweet little gem, and fun for sharing.
The singable one:
The Ballad of Valentine
by Alison Jackson
Penguin
ISBN: 978 0 525 46720 5
Audience: grades K-5
Sung to the tune of My Darling Clementine, this is the story of one man’s many, many ill-fated attempts to profess his love. As one mode of communication after another fails, his resolve finally starts to falter, and by the end, he’s out of ideas.
At the same time, his Valentine is going about her business – and we see the results of that in the happy surprise ending. I love books to sing, and I love sharing this one, with it’s terrific sense of humour. (Do be prepared to explain some of the attempts, though, as morse code, smoke signals, and The Pony Express are not everyday things anymore!)
The sweet (but not icky) one for moms:
Mama Loves You
by Caroline Stutson
Scholastic
ISBN: 978 0 439 57842 4
Audience: moms and young kiddos
This books was a surprise for me, a gift of a book I didn’t know or expect to love, since most stories about parent-child tenderness are too mushy for me. Instead, this employs a soothing and nicely-patterned rhyme and rhythm to frame parents telling their wee ones that mama loves them.
The illustrations are offbeat, softer than I usually like, but have several charming moments – the bugs may have made me say, “aww.” out loud (not that I’d admit it again). And so amid a field of books that seem to saccharine, this quiet and quirky one is the one that stands as a favourite right now.
The funny one about kid crushes:
Yuck, a Love Story
by Don Gillmor
Fitzhenry & Whiteside
ISBN: 978 1 554 55172 9
Audience: grade 1 on up
I love it when Gillmor and Gay partner up on picture books, and this is no exception. When a new girl moves in next door, a young boy tries his hardest to impress her, though he talks about how awful she is. Though he professes otherwise, he demonstrates that he’d get the moon for her.
This book is adorable and very, very funny for those of us who are past that stage and can laugh at it in hindsight. Which might seem like it makes it only for grownups, but kids do see what’s going on, too, so school-agers enjoy the joke just as well. (Well, almost as well.)