That lovin’ feeling
This month, our children’s book expert, Joy, recommends books about love.
February features Valentine’s Day, so books this month are all about the many forms of Love. The shops are full of sickly-sweet sentimental offerings, but I hope you find these suggestions have more intrinsic value! February is also LGBTPlus History Month and so there is also a section with appropriately diverse titles!
Love is ….Lily Murray and Sarah Maycock. Big Picture Press, 2022, pp48, £14.99. ISBN: 978-1787418745
Featuring stunning illustrations from an award winning artist, this is a collection of animal similes which thoughtfully and evocatively explores themes such as self-love, a parent's love for a new baby, the bond between siblings, friendship, fighting for what you believe in and missing someone who's no longer there. While the images are the main attraction here, it could also serve as a writing stimulus for creating more animal similes and for discussing effective use of the form.
Love. Corinne Averiss and Kirsti Beautyman. Words & Pictures, 2021, pp32, £12.99. ISBN: 978-0711255456
This is the third title by this author to explore positive emotions, following Joy (2018) and Hope (2019). Love is potentially a very useful title for children just starting at school, dealing as it does with the familiar separation anxiety felt by young children. The little girl is reassured by her mother that, even if they are far apart, their love for each other is like a string which connects them. The beautiful warm illustrations visualise this connection perfectly. At school the little girl notices that all the children have strings. Some are new, some are old, some stretch a long way, and some even stretch up into the sky, presenting an opportunity to discuss issues like death and grief as well. The little girl also notices that she can make new strings and new connections with the people that she meets. A lovely, reassuring and beautifully produced book.
One Dog and His Boy. Eva Ibbotson. Scholastic, 2010(2021) pp288, £6.99. ISBN: 978-0702306808
Having a pet is the way in which many children learn most about giving and receiving love. This, the last novel written by Eva Ibbotson is thought by many to be her best. In Hal we have a boy who has every material thing but has parents too preoccupied with their own lives and obsessions to spend time with him and think they can assuage his longing for a dog by leasing one from an agency for a few days. Lonely Hal and Fleck bond immediately, and when Fleck is taken away, Hal will stop at nothing to get him back. A daring rescue of Fleck and his kennel mates and an adventure packed journey to his understanding grandparents follows. Along the way the motley crew find help from a variety of havens including a circus, care home, farm and an abbey, where each dog finds their perfect home and the right person to love. There is a wonderful mix of pathos and humour and the deeply satisfying ending even sees development and redemption for the parents. The dogs are great personalities without losing their essential doggie-ness. This is a beautifully written and genuinely moving book about the importance of love and friendship and the power of people and animals to provide it. (The only thing I am sad about is losing the beautiful Sharon Rentta original cover )
Uncle Bobby’s Wedding. Lucy Brannen and Lucia Soto. Hodder, 2021, pp32, £6.99 ISBN: 978-1444960945
This warm and wonderfully relatable tale is of a young girl called Chloe, who loves spending time with her favourite uncle Bobby, and so when she finds out that he is going to get married, she's scared that she'll lose him. But Bobby and Jamie his partner, lovingly take time to reassure her, taking her on lovely days out and having a wonderful time. Chloe decides she wishes Jamie could be her uncle too, and he points out that she is about to get her wish and as flower girl has a big part to play in their celebration. The fact that her Uncle Bobby is gay will probably not even be noticed by most children, but instead they will empathise with Chloe’s fears and jealousy. If they do notice, then this book is the perfect place to start a conversation at an age-appropriate level about marriage not always being between a man and a woman.
Grandad’s Camper. Harry Woodgate. Andersen Press, 2021, pp32, £7.99. ISBN: 978-1783449927
With illustrations full of warmth, colour and joy we have a tender story depicting the intergenerational love between granddaughter and grandfather and a celebration of a lifetime of a happy and loving relationship between Grandad and his partner Gramps. She loves to hear the stories he tells of their adventures in their camper van travelling the world, gloriously illustrated here, and she decides that the best way to help her Grandad with his grief and loss is to rescue, restore and take the old campervan on another road trip. Unusual for its depiction of older LGBTQ characters and for showing children trying to understand someone else’s loss rather than their own experience of loss. The multiracial family at the heart of this story is an additional unstated bonus.
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