Valentine’s Day, Book Gifting Day and Love your Library Month make this Picture Book Perfect ideal. All of these books feature Love…and would make brilliant gifts, or could be displayed in a class reading corner! Let’s celebrate and share the love.
Love You by Heart by Peter H. Reynolds, Published by Scholastic
Books by Peter H. Reynolds are widely popular and perfect for primary schools to use as a stepping stone for art, imaginative play and emotive language. This book makes for a beautiful end to any day, a bedtime story set to send loved ones to sleep with a smile on their face and an outpouring of love into their hearts. Love, in this book, is unconditional. It is there when grumpy or sad days happen, when morning turns to afternoon and every moment in between. The colourful illustrations feature hearts as the main characters ensuring no one can feel left out, and we can share this book with a child, parent, grandparent, partner…the list is endless as is the love this book aims to share.
You’re Loved by Liz Climo, Published by Welbeck Children’s
An poetic and heart warming ode to parenting! Simple rhymes and gorgeous illustrations celebrate those moments of parenting that we have all gone through- the sleepless nights, the mess, the laughs and ultimately, the love. Using animals to emphasise and share these joyous (and sometimes exhausting) moments is a super way of ensuring all parents can relate and enjoy this book. Another excellent book to gift this month, whether to a new parent or an experienced one, it is something wondrous to look back upon. I may no longer suffer from the sleepless nights but I can look back with a wistful smile about them.
I Love you, Blue by Barroux, Published by Otter-Barry Books
Sometimes it is the simplest of stories that can have the greatest impact and such is the case with Barroux’s latest book. Simple sentences and beautifully illustrated pages tell the tale of a very ill whale. Jonas is saved by a whale in a storm and searches deep for the whale the next day. Finding him on the ocean floor, he can see his belly is full of plastic bags, making him feel ill. Jonas sets about taking all the plastic to save the whale and it is a message we try to share widely with our schools. Reduce the waste and save the planet and all who inhabit it. The whale, “Blue”, is a representative of all whales in the ocean and Jonas could be us, taking care of our oceans and planet. Simply told but with thoughtful illustrations!
Love Is…by Lily Murray, Illustrated by Sarah Maycock, Published by Big Picture Press
A captivating and gorgeous book celebrating Love in a way we can relate to, through a lens to the animal kingdom, using the known characteristics of those creatures to mirror the forms love can take. Whether love is as loud as a peacock, as gentle as the cuddle of tigers or as enduring as elephants and their long memories, we can all feel and understand love in those moments. Inclusive and diverse, love can be found everywhere and can inspire us to do extraordinary things. Ideal for teaching empathy, this book offers so much to the reader. Artistic and poetic, this should be in all schools! I love the double page spreads that perfectly showcase each animal and their ways of showing love.
I am a primary school teacher, turned librarian. Now I have the title Reading Advocate for ASSET Education Trust, based in Suffolk.
I read constantly and have more books than bookshelves, but I wouldn't have it any other way.
I celebrate reading every day at work and at home with my two children, aged 11 and 9.
I sit on the National Executive Committee for the Federation of Children’s Book Groups and run an OU/UKLA Teachers as Readers group!
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