Love is everywhere in the Young Readers’ Room!
I always feel grateful for the lovely people I have in my life, but around Valentine’s Day I try to be extra super especially grateful. Spending time with people you love and people who love you is one of the most special things in the world. It seems obvious, but it’s one of those things that’s easy to take for granted. These are a few classics you can check out from the Young Readers’ Room here at A.K. Smiley Public Library, some of my all-time favorites, that center around a common theme: love. They’ve stuck with me since my childhood, and I hope that one or two are new to you.
Okay, first things first – Love You Forever by Robert Munsch makes me cry every time I read it. No joke. And I think I actually checked out this book from Smiley Library when I was a child. The story begins with a mother rocking her son and singing a special song about how she’ll love him forever. Through the stages of his life into adulthood, the song is a constant from his mother. The story concludes with roles reversed as the son sings it to his mother (now elderly and held by him) and then to his baby daughter. It’s simple, but it’s an incredible representation of unconditional familial love and the way that type of love grows and is paid forward.
Allow me to introduce you to Charlie and Lola via I Am Too Absolutely Small for School by Lauren Child. Charlie and Lola are SO charming. Younger sister Lola is (in Charlie’s words) small and very funny. She likes to be silly and make things up. Charlie is her very practical older brother. They have such a funny sibling dynamic that my younger sister (hi, Lauren!) and I have always related to via their book series and TV show. Despite Lola’s (always mischievous, occasionally annoying) shenanigans, Charlie consistently remains patient with her, and it’s clear that he finds her endearing and loves her very much. I Am Too Absolutely Small For School follows Lola’s resistance to starting school. Each time she voices a concern (counting to a hundred is not a necessary skill – she already knows how to count to ten!), Charlie counters with a very sensible response (what would happen if eleven elephants were to ask her for a treat?). At the wise age of seven, Charlie is obviously more experienced and worldly than five-year-old Lola, and always has her best interest in mind. They’re so funny, and there is so much heart at the center of these books.
Learning to love the parts of yourself that others don’t approve of can be tricky, especially when you’re a child. Chrysanthemum of Kevin Henkes’ Chrysanthemum loves her name. That is, until her first day of school, when everyone begins teasing her about it: she doesn’t have friends, she doesn’t fit in, and despite her parents’ reassurance, she begins to resent her name. Enter the beautiful and charming music teacher, Mrs. Twinkle, whose first name is also the name of a flower and is also unusually long. She’s no doubt at some point experienced the same treatment that Chrysanthemum has, but now she is confident, lovely, and proud of her name. Suddenly, everyone in Chrysanthemum’s class wants to be named after a flower! Once again, she’s able to appreciate the beauty in her name. To paraphrase the great RuPaul: If you can’t love yourself, how are you gonna love anybody else?
Who was your valentine this year? Was it your pet, your best friend, your favorite book, yourself? Check one of these books out, or come to the Young Readers’ Room to search for another book on love! We’ve got plenty to go around.