Today I have two mini reviews* of some picture books to share...
Love Monster
by Rachel Bright
12/24/13
Macmillan
Love Monster is a slightly hairy monster trying to fit in with the cuddly residents of Cutesville. But as it turns out, it’s hard to fit in with the cute and the fluffy when you’re a googly-eyed monster. And so, Love Monster sets out to find someone who will love him just the way he is. His journey is not easy—he looks high, low, and even middle-ish. But as he soon finds out, in the blink of a googly eye, love can find you when you least expect it.
Goodreads / Amazon / B&N / IndieBound
Rachel Bright’s Love Monster is a heartwarming tale about one little monster’s search for love. Monster (as we’ll call him) is the only hairy, slightly googly-eyed monster in Cutesville, and being the only monster among the utterly cute is not easy. So, Monster sets out to find someone to love him just the way he is, but his search does not go well. That is, until he stops searching for love and lets it find him.
This is such a sweet tale that just gives you all the warm fuzzies inside! Bright has captured the simple, yet breathtaking essence of love, in a way that is both charmingly adorable and captivatingly poignant. Monster’s search for pure, heart-bursting, unconditional love, and discovery of the power of loving oneself, is presented in a way that little readers will absolutely get and connect with.
The illustrations are bright and simplistic and so flippin’ cute! Bright’s hairy, googly-eyed Monster is so delightfully expressive and fun to look at it. I just want a stuffed doll version of him to cuddle!
Witty, warm, and wonderfully rendered, Rachel Bright’s Love Monster is sure to be loved by all!
Catching Kisses
by Amy Gibson
12/31/13
Macmillan
At any given moment/someone, somewhereis blowing a kiss.And somewhere/someone/is catching it.
So begins this journey of the heart, as readers young and old follow a handful of kisses around the United States. From San Francisco to New Orleans to New York City, the text and stylized artwork celebrate all the ways kisses are shared.
Goodreads / Amazon / B&N / IndieBound
At any given moment/someone, somewhere
is blowing a kiss.
And somewhere/someone/is catching it.
So begins Amy Gibson’s gorgeous Catching Kisses. Gibson takes readers on a whirlwind journey across the Unites States as she explores the beauty and sweetness of the many different kinds of kisses.
Catching Kisses is an absolutely lovely story that is both wonderfully written and illustrated. Gibson’s prose is sparse, yet achingly beautiful. She captures the idea and power of a kiss, and the feelings behind it, perfectly. LIttle readers will easily feel and understand the heartwarming message behind this story. Every word in a picture book must be chosen carefully because every word matters, and I LOVE every single word Gibson has chosen! She takes very simple words and strings them together to make fun, captivating sentences that jump right off the page. Such as:
Some SMACK/like bubblegum.
Some whisper/like butterflies.
Kisses go with you/wherever,
whatever the day brings.
Maria Van Lieshout’s artwork is very stylized and feels both modern and classic. The splashes of bright yellow and red among the mostly black, grey, and blue artwork creates mesmerizing pictures. Van Lieshout takes readers on a visually stunning journey across the US and captures different cities (San Francisco, NYC, New Orleans, and more) perfectly. Little readers will love spotting all the awesome details in each city landscape.
Catching Kisses is such a beautiful book, both lyrically and visually. It is bound to put smile on your face and warm the hearts of the littlest readers.
*Please note that I do not rate picture books. I merely review them
I love the illustrations in both of these and they would make great Valentine gifts for my niece and nephew :)
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