Customer Reviews

The I LOVE YOU Book

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

My first reaction on seeing this book is that it is just beautiful -- the picture here doesn't do it justice. It is a nice thick cover with a cutout heart, which is surrounded by a silver edging. The illustrations are just lovely -- bright lively colors like those reflected on the cover, with a "handwriting" sort of font. The drawings are moving and relatable.

The theme is simple.. "I love you when." They give you both "positive" and "negative" reasons -- as in "I love you when you sleep [picture of baby asleep in car seat]. I love you when you don't sleep [picture of cranky, awake baby held by parent]. Other positives include depictions of children at lots of ages, from brand new swaddled baby to older child walking around. Culturally, it's unclear what's going on there -- they are stick type people with colored faces. Most are yellow, with some shade of yellow, but there are definitely shades. There are also some blue and purple faces -- sometimes because it's dark in the picture, but not always. There are families with multiple face shades in the same family, which is nice to see. The people, especially the women, are not all identical, but have different hairstyles, colorings and styles. I wouldn't exactly call it multicultural, but it's not homegeneous either.

My reservations are slight, but nag at me enough to mention. First, it does have some limiting scenes for those who might be bothered them not being reflective of their family. There are several depictions of tradition mom-dad-baby family. There is an image of mom being away from baby at work at a desk in an office, which is limiting even for some working moms who don't have desk jobs. In the "don't sleep" scene there is a discarded baby bottle on the ground which might not fit for breastfeeding families.

Most significantly is the point-counterpoint factor. What I mean my this is that "I love you when..." books always make me a little nervous. Even when they balance overall between the examples when kids are being "good" and being "bad" or having emotions or behaviors that are desirable or less desirable, they still can leave an odd impression. For example, this one has "I love you when you share" -- so is the child not loved when they don't share? I know it's overthinking a bit, so if it doesn't bother you, don't think twice about it, and get this book -- it really is cute! If it does bother you even a bit, you might want to get your hands on it in person and read it all the way through to see if it is overall balanced enough to make you feel comfortable with it (for example, it does offer "I love you when you hide my keys" and "I love you when you're shy."

So, these reservations are overall very minor in the larger scheme of a lovely book, but I thought they were worth mentioning for those who might find them significant. Overall, lovely book, lovely gift for Valentine's Day, birthday, holiday or any season.

I LOVE this book (no pun intended.) I think the promise of unconditional love is one of the most important things we can instill in our kids to make them grow up to be better kids and better adults. Unfortunately, it's a concept so many of us come to understand later in life, after the crucial child-development period has passed. This book makes kids feel loved via the kind of humor and silliness they can easily understand. It tells them they're loved "when they share...when they're shy...and even when they're stinky." I know this author's work well, and think this may be his best book yet, in helping kids jump start their self-confidence.

--Marcello

Great book, very cute picture, love the message. One of my favorite things is that it has a quote 'I love you when I'm at work' and shows a working mom at a desk. Don't see that often.

I love this book! Not only is it great for the recommended age, it's also great for older people (as in adults) too. Like all Todd's books, it has a positive message of acceptance and love, not to mention some great artwork!

This is another lovely book by San Francisco's own Todd Parr. He always seems to capture the spirit of childhood so well with his sweet and sometimes silly books and drawings. We love reading this book to our daughter and she loves following along with the colorful pictures.

I have truly enjoyed each and every one of Todd Parr's books, and THE I LOVE YOU BOOK is one of the best.

Perfect for bedtime, the story shares a parent's love for a child, no matter the situation. When they're tired and cranky, when they're messy or stinky, when they're sleeping or shopping, when they're walking or making new friends, mom and dad will always be there, loving them the entire time.

As always, the illustrations are what make the story so great. Bold, bright, and multicolored, they compliment the easy-to-read story perfectly.

This is another winning picture book by Todd Parr to add to your home library. There's no doubt young children will ask for it before bed again and again.

Reviewed by: Jennifer Wardrip, aka "The Genius"

We've collected just about all of Todd Parr's books for children. The stories are cute. The pages are thick enough to withstand little tear-friendly fingers. The colors are vivid and the stories are short enough for toddlers to maintain interest.

The first thing that I notice from this book are the vibrant colors and they just make me want to smile or even draw a picture. Each page of this book is filled with one more reason from parent to child (or whomever the reader is to child) that "I love you" when and why. It is a fabulous book and has an absolutely wonderful message that is so important.



This book was my first Todd Parr experience, but will definitely not be my last. I cannot wait for more books and to go back and find some of his already published works out there. Definitely a keeper for my child's shelf. I cannot wait to be able to share this book with my baby again (outside of the womb). *grin*

The book itself, and the message are beautiful. My four-year-old wants to read it over and over, and she makes up her own pages in keeping with the book's wording: "I love you when...." I love it :)

I bought this book for my grandson as an I LOVE YOU gift. He's just a baby, but he LOVES the colors on the pages. And, as he grows, he will love it even more. While it is written for children, it can be appreciated by adults. The focus of the book is that regardless of whether a child is stinky, sleeping, not sleeping, sharing, or cuddling, he/she is loved. What better gift to give a child than acceptance and LOVE?