Every year right after Christmas the commercialized Valentine's Day stuff appears in stores. Red and pink everywhere. Cute, mushy, suggestive. The word love splashed everywhere. But love isn't chocolates, cupcakes, bright greeting cards, stuffed animals or dinner out. It's so much more....

Stacy McAnulty's book about love shows that love is in everyday things....in our actions, words and caring for others. The illustrations carefully teach a lesson that love has nothing to do with a commercialized holiday....and everything to do with how we value those around us. Lovely book! I'm ordering a copy for my grand kids!

The Illustrations by Joanne Lew-Vriethoff are beautiful! Colorful, interesting and meaningful! The cover art pulled me in and got me to read this children's book. I'm glad I did....it really has an awesome message! I think my grand kids will really enjoy it!

This is the first book by Stacy McAnulty I've read. She has several others that Joanne Lew-Vriethoff also illustrated. I'm sure I will be reading and buying more!

**I voluntarily read a sample copy of this children's book. All opinions expressed are entirely myt own.** ( )

This was cute! I really enjoyed the illustrations and how diverse it was. ( )

American author Stacy McAnulty and Dutch illustrator Joanne Lew-Vriethoff, who previously collaborated on Brave and Beautiful, join forces again in this new picture-book examination of love. Describing all the things love requires, from bouquets of flowers to the finest chocolates, and all the ways in which it comes, the simple text here is paired with colorful artwork depicting a diverse range of children enacting their love...

Somehow, despite enjoying this team's [book:Brave|34220080], I wasn't as wowed by this one. It's sweet enough, and I did appreciate the idea that homemade gifts are best, communicated largely through the artwork, which gently corrects the text, when it maintains that "love needs special presents and designer greeting cards." This disconnect is undoubtedly intentional, so the text above didn't bother me, as such - the designer greeting cards, for instance, are clearly being created by the kids themselves. Unfortunately, although its heart is in the right place, this one just didn't move me at all, and I didn't feel like it gave any insights into what love is. Tastes vary, of course, so some might appreciate Love as a corrective to the overly materialistic interpretation of Valentine's Day. I suppose it is to such readers that I would recommend it, although I think I prefer Sandra Boynton's Consider Love, if one is in the market for this sort of thing. ( )