What is love? You hear poets and authors come up with so many beautiful ways to define and describe this little word with great power. So here I am sharing a few such quotes with you:
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Love is a great beautifier. – Louisa May Alcott
Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts. – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Love doesn’t make the world go ’round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile. – Franklin P. Jones
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Love is when he gives you a piece of your soul, that you never knew was missing. – Torquato Tasso
Love Is …. Books: Mini-Reviews
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Love Grows Everywhere
Title: Love Grows Everywhere
Author: Barry Timms
Illustrator: Tisha Lee
Publishers: Frances Lincoln Children’s Books; Illustrated edition (January 4, 2022)
Genre: Children’s Books (4 – 7 years, and up)
Source: e-ARC from NetGalley
With lushly colored illustrations that tug at your heart, this lyrical picture book connects the love that nurtures plants with the love that nurtures our relationships.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this review copy.
Such a sweet, sweet read. Barry Timm’s gently flowing lyrical text easily draws parallels between love and nature; between growing plants and relationships; and is such a delight to read over and over again. Tisha Lee’s accompany illustrations are the perfect complement to this heartwarming read adding to the narrative effortlessly. The book celebrates love in all its forms; in families and communities; between friends, couples, parents and children, siblings, and more.
So check out this book today and be ready to be happier than before (even if you were already) as you reach the end. And did I already mention that the book is perfect to read out loud? I did not?! Well, the rhymes are so sing-songy that you should read it aloud.
Get it here: Amazon
The Hug Machine
Title: Hug Machine
Author/Illustrator: Scott Campbell
Publishers: Little Simon; Reissue edition (December 5, 2017)
Genre: Children’s Emotion Books (2 – 4 years, and up)
Source: Library
Who have YOU hugged today? Open your arms to this delightfully tender, goofy, and sweet book from Scott Campbell. This endearing story encourages a warm, caring, and buoyantly affectionate approach to life. Everyone deserves a hug—and this book!
Can anything be more adorable than the protagonist of this book? He is THE HUG MACHINE, after all. I so fell in love with him and everything about the book as I read it. His hugs simply make everyone and everything he hugs better than before; more themselves (or itself?); and no one or no thing misses out on hugs because of the hug machine!! So very endearing…
Short and easy to read text with humor and heart for its young audience (yet great for older readers too because ..) and quirky, goofy, and cute illustrations by Scott Campbell make this the perfect book to gift (with a hug, of course!)
Get it here: Amazon
Love is Powerful
Title: Love Is Powerful
Author: Heather Dean Brewer
Illustrator: LeUyen Pham
Publishers: Candlewick; Illustrated edition (September 8, 2020)
Genre: Children’s Historical Fiction Books/Girl Power (5 – 8 years, and up)
Source: Library
A little girl carries a big message—and finds it thrillingly amplified by the rallying crowd around her—in an empowering story for the youngest of activists.
Heather Dean Brewer wrote this uplifting story inspired by a girl named Mari (like the protagonist in the book) who went to the 2017 Women’s March in New York with her mother. Brewer uses straight-forward text to show readers how even the littlest voices can make a difference. LeUyen Pham’s delightful illustrations provide the perfect complement to this story.
This book is a great starting point for deeper conversations about activism, about raising our voices for what is right, for showing the whats, whys, and hows of activism, and so much more. A much needed read in today’s world and one with lots of love to take with us everywhere.
Get it here: Amazon
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Related Reads
Sharing all these reads at TeachMentorTexts for Its Monday What Are You Reading?
And Now, the End of This Post
Dear reader, have you read any of these books? Do you have any similar recommendations? Which one would you pick first to read among these three? And have you hugged someone today?
These were very sweet selections – well done!
Love these (no pun intended)! I’ll be checking these out soon for my toddlers!
“Where we love is home – home that our feet may leave, but not our hearts” I think that one is my favorite, as a world traveler and as someone who has started a family far from my own family and my husband’s family, this really rings true to me!
I love all the quotes you listed. I will be turning one into a sign to put above our coat rack!
That love quote on giving you a piece of your soul is true. You never know until someone gives you that kind of LOVE.
What a lovely and sweet list of books that encourages love and compassion.
That quote on LOVE being a part someone gives you that you didn’t know was missing is so true. Sometimes we forget how love should make us feel at peace.
The hug machine sounds perfect for my little one!! 🙂 he loves giving hugs, and this will encourage him to display his love language even more.
That book – Love is powerful, sounds really good. I can’t wait to read it.