Disclosure: I was sent review copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.
Valentine's Day is right around the corner, and if your family is like mine in that you love to snuggle up on the couch or add a few extra books to the stack at bedtime, to get excited about upcoming holidays, then you will want to have these books on your radar to pick up and share with your kids.
These books are the perfect way to remind your kids that they are loved and cherished, as well as that love comes in all shapes and sizes, and there is no right or wrong way to show it! Leave it to the folks at Simon & Schuster to release a wonderful selection of children's books for all reading levels (board and picture books through chapter books), just in time for Valentine's Day. Even though this is holiday usual reserved for couples, my husband and I make it about the family as a whole, and we usually give the girls a few small gifts that say "I Love You." And, what better way, besides candy and toys, than a few new books to celebrate Valentine's Day, like these...
About this book:
"Just how much does Big Monster loathe Little Monster? Let it count the ways…
I loathe you more than tooth decay
More than blizzard snow in May
More than garbage in a dump
More than splinters in my rump
No matter what, through thick and thin, I loathe you there and back again!
Author and illustrator David Slonim depicts a tender, tongue-in-cheek celebration of a very special kind of loathe…er, love."
My Thoughts:
This is a silly alternative version to "let me count how much I love you" that kids of all ages will get a kick out when you read it with them. Usually my girls get all silly when I about lovey dovey stuff with them. So, I knew when I first read this book that they would love this as it wouldn't have them saying "ehh gross." :-)
Kids will love the rhyming text of this cute picture book that has a mother and her child monster going back and forth trying to outdo each other about how much they loathe each other. It isn't until the very end when the child asks what would happen if he wasn't all these things the mother mentioned, if she would not loathe him any more, that he is reminded just how much he is loathed (AKA loved).
You don't expect to read books likes this to kids, but the true meaning of "loathe"/Love comes out in the end, and will warm the hearts of both kids and adults. And, you will find yourselves trying to outdo each other with your words of endearment. :-)
About this book:
"I Love You, Little Pookie is an affectionate and heartfelt celebration—for Valentine’s Day and every day—enlivened with those funny and captivating Boynton drawings. And Pookie’s Mom wisely knows that the best way to say I love you is simply to say it:
Through the days,
through the nights,
come rain or come shine,
I love you, little Pookie.
You’ll always be mine.
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Sandra Boynton is a popular American humorist, songwriter, children’s author, and illustrator. Boynton has written and illustrated more than forty books for both children and adults, as well as more than four thousand greeting cards and four music albums. She has designed—for various companies—calendars, wallpaper, bedding, stationery, paper goods, clothing, jewelry, and plush toys."
My Thoughts:
I have always been a fan of this author, and love when I am sent these books to read. Even though my girls are reading chapter books, it is nice to sit down and enjoy books from Boynton, even if it is just to admire the cute illustrations. My girls learned how to read with this author's books, and continue to draw pictures featuring Pookie, as well as other characters from bestselling author, Sandra Boynton.
This cute board book is the perfect book to share with your child as you remind them all the different ways they are loved. Leave it to Sandra Boynton to pair her writing style and colorful illustrations to a board book that will have parents and kids saying a few extra "I Love You's" at bedtime. My girls loved this book, and I loved the extra hugs and kisses I got from them! :-)
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About this book:
| "It feels like everyone around Tamiko is crazy in love, and it’s driving her crazy! Thankfully, Allie and Sierra would rather brainstorm new ice cream flavors than squeal over a crush. But there’s a small voice inside Tamiko that keeps wondering: is there something wrong with her if she’s more interested in sprinkles than sweethearts? |
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From cupcakes to ice cream! Having written over thirty books about middle school girls and cupcakes, Coco Simon decided it was time for a change; so she’s switched her focus from cupcakes to her second favorite sweet treat: ice cream! When she’s not daydreaming about yummy snacks, Coco edits children’s books and has written close to one hundred books for children, tweens, and young adults, which is a lot less than the number of cupcakes and ice cream cones she’s eaten. She is the author of the Cupcake Diaries and the Sprinkle Sundays series."
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My Thoughts:
Both of my girls were excited to get their hands on this chapter book as it is written by the same author, Coco Simon, who writes "Cupcake Diaries." They had heard about this chapter book series from a friend, and wanted to start reading them. This particular book is #5 in the series. Even though they didn't read the first 4 books, they were able to still enjoy this book. Both of my girls ended up reading this chapter book in one sitting. While my youngest was a little disappointed that there weren't any black and white illustrations intermixed through the chapters, she did say she found herself stopping for a moment here and there and imagining in her head how the story was playing out.
My girls can't wait to get a hold of the previous four books in this series, and said it is even better than the Cupcake Diaries books they had read in the past...and, that is saying a lot as they really enjoyed these books, and would read them all the time, over and over again.
About this book:
"The orchard is putting on a Valentine’s Day dance! And the town is once again totally involved. Lizzie and her friends have been tasked with decorations. When all four of them go into town to buy them, they see Sheriff Hadley and Sarah’s mom kissing beside a building! Sarah is shocked. But she’s the only one. Lizzie tries to comfort her but then to her surprise, Sarah is thrilled! She’s so thrilled in fact, she wants to hurry them along. She wants a proposal. And she wants the gang’s help to get it. Lizzie is unsure—she thinks people should be able to do what they want. But Sarah is her best friend, so…
Meanwhile, Lizzie has been taking singing lessons. She hates them—she’s really not that good. But her parents decided she needed to “find her voice” and thought this was a great way to do it. Lizzie doesn’t want to hurt their feelings so she doesn’t say anything.
Sarah gets the gang to scheme ways to hint to Sheriff Hadley and her mom that they all know they’re together and they want them to get married. Now Lizzie’s really uncomfortable. Why doesn’t Sarah just talk to her mom? To make matters worse, her friends come up with an idea of a romantic moment at the Valentine’s Day Dance that involves a proposal and…a singing Lizzie.
Can Lizzie find the courage to put a stop to all this? Or is she going to face her worst nightmare?
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| Megan Atwood is a writer, editor, and professor in Minneapolis, Minnesota, whose most recent books include the Dear Molly, Dear Olive series. When she’s not writing books for kids of all ages, she’s making new friends, going on zombie hayrides, and eating as much ice cream as she can. And, always, petting her two adorable cats who “help” her write every book." |
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My Thoughts:
My oldest daughter just started on this chapter book tonight, so can't give me a full report on how it was and what she liked about it. What she did say though was that it had cute illustrations that my youngest daughter would like, and that it was about a Valentine's Day dance, so it would be a perfect book for parents to pick up and share with their kids as an early Valentine's Day gift.
I did have a chance to sit down and read a few chapters this evening and have to say, I really enjoyed the author's writing style. She was very descriptive in her narration, and you really found yourself connecting with the characters. I can't wait to hear what my girls think of this book when they are done reading it. And, who knows, maybe I will sneak it and finish reading it. :-)
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| Imprint | S&S Books for Young Readers |
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About this book:
"When a small robot named Z discovers a message in a bottle signed “Love, Beatrice,” they decide to find out what “love” means. Unable to get an answer from the other robots, they leave to embark on an adventure that will lead them to Beatrice—and back home again, where love was hiding all along.
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| Jessie Sima is an author/illustrator living and working in New York City. She grew up in a small town in Southern New Jersey, unaware that she was a storyteller. Once she figured it out, she told her family and friends. They took it quite well. She is the author of Not Quite Narwhal; Harriet Gets Carried Away; Love, Z; and Spencer’s New Pet. You can visit her at JessieSima.com." |
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My Thoughts:
I have to say that out of all the books I was recently by the folks at Simon & Schuster, this particular picture book was my favorite. I read it for the first time the other night with my girls and found myself tearing up at the end. Have you ever read such a cute and heartwarming children's story, that it melts your heart and moves you, maybe even to tears? Well, this book did it for me. It is about a little robot named Z who stumbles across a message in a bottle. The message is smudged, and all he can make out is "Love, Beatrice." He asks his family what "Love" is, and for the first time he doesn't get a response. "Love" isn't computed and can't be defined for Z, so the next day he sets out to find Beatrice from the bottle, who he thinks will be able to tell him what love is.
Along his journey Z meets others and asks what love is. They give a response, but Z still has a hard time of understanding. About to give up, he stumbles across a cottage, where Beatrice lives. She invites him inside and tries to tell him what love it. Still struggling to understand, Z and Beatrice are interrupted by someone at the door. It ends up being Z's family who came searching for him and brought him his favorite bedtime stuff. It is then that Z realizes what love is and that he has always felt it, but just didn't have a name for the emotion/feeling.
My girls agreed that this was a cute book, and they can't wait to read it again. I think this book will become either a nightly or at least weekly bedtime read with them. It is a cute reminder that love comes in all shapes and sizes and can be shared differently, without it being right or wrong. If you had to choose just one book of the ones I am mentioning in this post, I would highly recommend this one.
About this book:
"It’s almost Valentine’s Day and Charlie Brown’s sister, Sally, wants to give a valentine to Linus…but Linus wants to give a valentine to Lydia instead. He thinks of Sally as just a friend. Then Linus finds out that Valentine’s Day can be about love and friendship, and makes Sally’s valentine dream come true!"
My Thoughts:
Tonight we watched the Peanuts Valentine's Day special on television and followed up by reading this cute story before bed. Next to Charlie Brown and Snoopy, both of my girls love Linus and Sally. So, anytime I get a Peanuts book and it centers around these characters, they can't wait to read it.
In addition to this cute story about giving and receiving Valentine's, and that you don't need to love someone to give them a special, this book also includes 30+ Valentine-themed stickers for fans to enjoy.
We all know that Sally has a crush on Linus and hopes that she will one day marry him. But, Linus doesn't like her in that way. This cute story reminds Linus that Valentine's Day is also about celebrating friendship, and makes Sally's day by giving her a Valentine. A really cute story to share with kids of all ages, and one parents will enjoy, as we all grew up on watching the Peanuts holiday specials on television including the Valentine's Day ones.
About this Book:
"All you need is love, all you need is love
All you need is love, love, love is all you need
In this gorgeously illustrated picture book, the universally loved song “All You Need Is Love” comes vividly to life, showing that if we follow the music we will see there is indeed love all around us. |
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John Lennon and Paul McCartney are two of the four members of The Beatles and together have contributed to numerous top hits that continue to reign on the charts and on the lips of people today.
Marc Rosenthal is the New York Times bestselling illustrator of many books for children, includingSmall Walt by Elizabeth Verdick; I Must Have Bobo, I’ll Save You Bobo, and Bobo the Sailor Man, all by Eileen Rosenthal; The Straight Line Wonder by Mem Fox; and Phooey, which he wrote. Marc’s illustrations can be seen regularly in The New Yorker, Time, Forbes, Fortune, The Atlantic, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, and others. Visit him online at Marc-Rosenthal.com." |
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My Thoughts:
Thanks to the Beat Bugs show on Netflix, my two girls have been introduced to The Beatles and their iconic songs. My youngest has taken a particular liking to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who wrote many of the hit songs sung by the Beatles including "All You Need is Love."
So, when I heard there was a cute picture book coming out that centered around this song, to show how love is universal and all around us, I had to get my hands on a copy to share with my girls. We received this book the other day, and my youngest grabbed it from the pile of books and read the title. Not knowing it about about the Beatles song she loves so much, she quickly chimed in and started to sing the song. Then, I had her flip through the pages and read the words and then it hit her, the story used this famous Beatles song to tell the story of love. She was all smiles and couldn't wait to sit and read it with me. And, when we finally sat down to read it, she had Alexa play the song in the background as we flipped through the pages admiring the beautiful, and oh so colorful illustrations that fill the pages of this cute children's book.
This is another book from the ones mentioned above that is a stand out in my eyes, and would make for a great Valentine's Day gift go give your kids, and read together.
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The above mentioned books are just a sampling of the recent releases from Simon & Schuster that would make for a great Valentine's Day surprise for your child this year? Give the gift of a good book, and have an excuse to get a few extra snuggles in before bedtime as you sit down or cozy up in their beds, reading some of these great books. I have been enjoying reading this books with my girls over the past few days. Even though they usually just grab a chapter book and head to bed to read on their own, I loved having the excuse that I needed their thoughts on these books for my review post, to get a little extra quality time together, as they really do grow up so fast, and become more and more independent. Join me in enjoying a few of these good books with your kids...it will be the best Valentine's Day gift they could ever give you...their undivided attention and a few extra snuggles! :-)
Disclosure: I was sent review copies from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All views shared are mine and mine alone.
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