I Love You Night and Day

April 28, 2014
Inspired by a biblical passage, Ephesians, 3:17–19, this (fully secular) story uses a panoply of adjectives to evoke the expansive love between a small blue bunny and a larger, rounded purple bear: “I love you far, I love you wide,/ From over here... to the other side.” Brown’s (Eddie and Dog) soft mixed-media illustrations use a predominantly cool palette, showcasing the dark blues of underwater and nighttime scenes or the azure sky of a sunny day. Though the animals’ facial features are minimal (pinpoints for eyes, loose squiggles for mouths), their mutual affection comes through. Prasadam-Halls’s rhymed couplets have a pleasing lilt, though verge on precious and simplistic: the lines “I love you strong, I love you small./ Together we have it all” accompany a picture of the bunny struggling to hold a snowman’s body in place while the bear places its head on top. The gender-neutral, cross-species portrait of affection gives the book the potential for broad appeal—the animals’ relationship could easily be between a single or adoptive parent and his or her child, or also between two close friends. Ages 3–6.

April 1, 2014
This new entry in the "I love you SO VERY MUCH" genre offers grandiose rhyme paired to images of a small blue bunny and a slightly larger purple bear. Broadening the potential audience if nothing else, the two figures are both androgynous and cast in an ambiguous relationship. Whether sibs, parent and child (perhaps adoptive), bosom buddies or outright lovers, in Brown's spacious, idyllic pastel paintings, they pose together in a variety of seasons and settings, sometimes holding paws, more often sharing smiles and glances. Whether soaring in a hot air balloon, climbing a mountain or snuggling together with a book in bed, the sentiment never varies--even during a temporary ruction caused by broken crockery. The verse, spread out to a line or a couplet per spread, is as oblique as the relationship: "I love you most, I love you best, / Much, much more than all the rest. // I love you tall, I love you high, / Way up in the sunny sky." Unsurprisingly, it's even unclear which of the two is delivering the declarations. A generic addition to a thoroughly overcrowded bandwagon. (Picture book. 5-8, adult)

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June 1, 2014

PreS-Gr 2-In this warm tale, inspired by Ephesians 3: 17-19, two cuddly animals interact with one another, demonstrating their love. They will always love each other, be it day or night, if the fun is past or yet to come, or should one be right and the other be wrong. Based on their depictions in the artwork, one animal is clearly a small aqua rabbit, while the other appears to be a stocky lavender bear. Brown's soft, full-spread artwork nicely matches Prasadam-Halls's brief rhyming verse. The opening spread begins with a sunrise and the friends walking along a forest path. Subsequent scenes follow the two companions sharing a variety of activities that take them through the seasons. They ride in a hot-air balloon, scuba dive, build a snowman, play in the rain, and read a bedtime story. The cheerful artwork confirms the loving bond between them. This gentle, reassuring story is a calming tale just right for family or group sharing.-Lynn Vanca, Freelance Librarian, Akron, OH

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