Written for children ages 2 - 5, this book abounds with genuine human connection expressed in simple ways. A boy brings an elderly gentleman a hand-picked bouquet. A child creates a "designer greeting card" for someone — with plenty of crayons and a penchant for hearts. Children offer special presents to the people in their lives: a flower wreath for a child with cancer, a book from a wagon "bookmobile" to a buddy, homemade cookies to an elderly neighbor. All these acts convey love. And if they still leave you wondering what love is, McAnulty describes it as sounding like poetry, having a beautiful melody, and sparkling like diamonds.
Joanne Lew-Vriethoff's illustrations have those special touches that parents and other caregivers appreciate when they are reading a book for the nth time. The "finest chocolate" that a girl offers her mother, for instance, is pictured as a Hershey's kiss —- beloved by children but not generally considered gourmet.
Also noted and much appreciated are the array of races and physical abilities represented. The spread of pages that reads "Love deserves to be shouted from the rooftops" shows two children, on balconies facing each other across an alley, signing to each other and passing across on a clothesline a basket of books, the top one titled Sign Language. This perceptive blend of words and pictures works its own loving magic and makes the book a pleasure to share.
