Love

De la Pena's prose poem speaks right to young children. "In the beginning there is light/ and two wide-eyed figures standing/ near the foot of your bed, / and the sound of their voices is love," he opens as an interracial couple looks down at a crib. The rest of de la Pena's poem is accompanied by images of families and friends of many different ages and appearances who live in cities and in rural or warm places, such as the group of men seen throwing horseshoes under palm trees. The expressions worn by Long's characters and the way their shoulders are stooped with care make them seem full of love, even when they're playing instruments or fishing. It's not always smooth sailing, and sometimes scary things happen ("One day you find your family/ nervously huddled around the TV"), but comfort is there. "It's okay, it's okay, it's love," says a grown-up offering a child an embrace. People often talk to children about love; in these pages, they can see and feel what it's like. And there's plenty for everybody. Ages 4-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Jan.)

Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Gr 2-5--How do we love and care for one another? Award-winning author de la Pena sets out not only to count the ways but also to help young people recognize and take these tender mercies to heart, especially when times are tough and beyond the control of the adults around them. He defines love in multiple sensory images, brilliantly interpreted and expanded upon in evocative mixed media paintings. Long's use of light and shadow are particularly effective, with love seeming to illuminate and embrace the diverse cast of characters. The spare lyrical text describes the music of parents' voices at the foot of the bed, the colors of the night sky above a family's trailer, or the echo of laughter as kids run through summer sprinklers as just a few of the brighter examples. Yet, small kindnesses can come when least expected, on the streets as fire alarms blare or when trusted adults behave badly and all seems lost. Learning to recognize love in the spirit and actions of others and in one's mirror reflection are among the most important and powerful lessons that life (and this book) can impart. The author ventures that "when the time comes for you to set off on your own," it isn't mere luck that will ensure one's success; it's the ability to accept and to give love that will make all the difference. VERDICT This heartfelt and sensitively rendered picture book meditation begs to be shared and discussed with children, especially those with the maturity and life experience to appreciate the nostalgic tone and the nonlinear and philosophical musings. Spread the love.---Luann Toth, School Library Journal

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Praise for Love
#1 New York Times Bestseller
#1 Indie Bestseller
A Winter 2017-2018 Kids' Indie Next Top Pick
Five Starred Reviews
An Amazon Best of the Year Pick 2018 - Ages 3-5
A Time Magazine Best Children's Book of 2018
An NPR Best Book of 2018


"Accompanied by Loren Long's charming illustrations, this book, also available in Spanish, celebrates how love exists in the ordinary and why we should treasure moments, big and small, with the people in our lives."—Time Magazine

"[A] poetic reckoning of the importance of love in a child's life . . . eloquent and moving."—People Magazine

"Everything that can be called love — from shared joy to comfort in the darkness — is gathered in the pages of this reassuring, refreshingly honest picture book."—The New York Times Book Review, Editors' Choice / Staff Picks From the Book Review

"Lyrical and sensitive, 'Love' is the sort of book likely to leave readers of all ages a little tremulous, and brimming with feeling."—The Wall Street Journal

★ "De la Peña's prose poem speaks right to young children. . . . People often talk to children about love; in these pages, they can see and feel what it's like. And there's plenty for everybody."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"This book looks into the darkness and still finds stars twinkling overhead."—The New York Times Book Review

★ "From the moment prose and art appear in the opening spread, de la Peña and Long usher readers into a patient, pensive meditation on love. . . . Timely, timeless, and utterly necessary."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"Newbery Award-winning De la Peña offers a lyrical ode to love in this stirring picture book. . . . In De la Peña's lines, love becomes not just an emotion between people but a feeling suffusing the world."—Booklist

★ "Long and Matt de la Peña . . . hit the mark with Love . . . a gentle, poetic picture book about love in all circumstances, even the tough ones."—Shelf Awareness

★ "This heartfelt and sensitively rendered picture book meditation begs to be shared and discussed with children . . . Spread the love."—School Library Journal, starred review

★ "An exquisitely written and illustrated picture book that speaks of how love, even when it's difficult to recognize, can percolate up through the most common of daily circumstances."—The Horn Book, starred review

"Love - it's an abstract emotion, right? Not even close. These pictures and words describe a zillion ways to think of love . . . For readers, this book is a lifelong challenge to ask: What is love? And how can we create more of it in what we think and do and say?"—Justine Kenin, producer, All Things Considered, in NPR's Book Concierge Guide to 2018's Great Reads