Todd Parr

Oh, I noticed that I had neglected to review this and then I thought, shit, my family's gonna fall apart any day now, might as well wait and do it then and exploit all the sadness/regret/recrimination/overpowering sense of failure that will well to the surface. Anyway, my family's almost fallen apart like six times since then and we just can't seem to get there, or contrariwise to get out of the fall-apart zone, and so I might as well just get to it, especially because this book is coming to show more serve as a kind of prayer for me; it's full of different kinds of families (big and small, two mums and two dads, two parents and one, living together and living apart, fish and dogs, eating the same things and different things), but all brought together by certain very important things: hugs, spending special days together, feeling sad when they lose someone they love, helping each other be strong. Acceptance of difference and placing a premium on not hurting each other, which I took to be a core value for most everyone but which turns out to look very fragile indeed in the face of the dogged monster of expectation, the kneejerk black-and-white demand that we be a certain kind of family, a traditional family even though at the same time that's not what we either of us wants, and hence a frustrated and miserable family. A prayer, I said: that when our family inevitably falls apart, we'll find a way to spring up from the ashes and go on being a family, no matter how different things look. Emmett loves this book and all the different funny fa-MA-lees that are in it, and seeing that makes me hopeful, for a certain value of hope. show less

You can't tell from the picture but "The I Love You Book" is really gorgeous. It has a thick cover with a silver-lined heart cut out of it; and through the heart you can see a child with his arms thrown out wide, smiling and looking like he's ready to hug you... and I can't help but smile when I see it.

The artwork is typical of Todd Parr. It's bright and sunny, in brilliant primary colors. But what I love even better than the cheerful art is the message of Love which is expressed in a dozen show more and more different ways.

The book starts off by saying "I love you when you are silly", then it says "I love you when you are sad". It goes on to say to children that love persists despite the many ups and downs, and ins and outs of family life. Parr reminds us, that we love our kids when they sleep... and when they don't sleep. When they're sick... and when they are better.

This is just a delightful book about love. Highly recommended for snuggling and bedtime.

Pam T~
mom and reviewer for BooksForKids-reviews show less

In my opinion this is a pretty good book to read to young children, especially those in a diverse learning setting. Children are sometimes unconformable when the realize they are different from the people around them. Some kids have two moms or two dads or maybe only one dad. In our society, even today, there is a typical family dynamic which includes a mom and a dad. This book clearly goes through different types of families, for example one of the eccentric colored characters lives with show more the grandparents. The book also tackles racial diversity very tastefully using colors that make new colors to represent the children. One page in the book had a blue parent, a yellow parent that had a green child. This helps students understand thats it is okay and normal to have parents of different ethnic backgrounds. The moral of this story is that it is okay to have a "non-traditional" family and that families of all sizes and colors should be celebrated. I think students would benefit from this book because they can either relate to it or learn from it. show less

A fantastic read aloud by Todd Parr. The illustrations are bright and colorful and definitely fully animated. The art is silly and engages readers without putting pressure on them. Each page begins with "It's okay if..." and finishes the sentence. It's okay to be big, small, different colors, embarrassed, proud, have different moms or dads... etc. I love the way that this book talks about "good" things, like it's okay to be proud of yourself, or say no to something bad. But it's also okay show more for "bad" or "different" things, like having no hair or having different moms or dads. I think most kids can relate to this book and if not for themselves, they can see others in this book. A very non confrontational book about how it's okay to be different. show less