Favorite Valentine’s Day Picture Books

Valentine’s Day is all about love and love comes in many forms – God’s love, parent/child love, sibling love, romantic love, friendship love, and even sacrificial love.  I can think of no better way to show your children how much you love them than by snuggling up together on Valentine’s Day and reading some of these wonderful picture books about all different kinds of love.

Romantic Love

• The Valentine Bears by Eve Bunting with pictures by Jan Brett – In this, my favorite of all picture books about love, Mrs. Bear plans to surprise Mr. Bear with a Valentine’s Day treat for the very first time.  Of course, they usually sleep through Valentine’s Day!  In the end, though, Mrs. Bear is the one who is most surprised.  I absolutely adore the quiet and constant love between this married couple.

Parent/Child Love

• Froggy’s First Kiss by Jonathan London – The Froggy books never failed to bring laughter to my children when they were younger.  In this tale, Froggy makes a very special Valentine at school and everybody assumes that it is for Frogilina since he has a crush on her.  But, the special card with “I LOVE YOU” written on it is not for Frogilina – it’s for Froggy’s mom.
• Hazels’s Amazing Mother by Rosemary Wells – When Hazel is threatened by a group of mean kids, her mother swoops in like a super-hero and saves the day, punishes the mean kids, and makes everything OK for Hazel again.
• Love You Forever by Robert Munsch – I dare you, no, I double dare you to read this book and not cry.  This incredible book about the never-ending love that binds a mother and her son, was given to me right after I had my first child.  Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful – this book will remind you of how much you love your children and it will remind your children of how much you love them.
• No Matter What by Debi Gliori - Large reassures Small that she will always, always, always love her child – no matter what.

God’s Love

• Super-Scrumptious Jelly Donuts Sprinkled with Hugs by Barbara Johnson - The Geranium Lady hosts a contest to see who comes up with the best way to share God’s love by handing out hugs to others.  Even though some of the children come up with some very imaginative ideas, the simple act of sharing a hug, a flower, and a message about God’s love is chosen as the winner.
• You Are Mine by Max Lucado - In this allegorical story, Punchinello learns that he doesn’t have to worry about what all of the other Wemmicks think of him and he doesn’t have to do what the other Wemmicks do since his maker loves and accepts him just because he is Punchinello.

Sacrificial Love

• The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein – If you’ve never read this absolutely beautiful tale of sacrificial love, run immediately to your nearest bookstore or library, get the book, read it, dry your tears, and then share it with your children!  This is the story of a young boy who takes everything that the Giving Tree has to offer and the Giving Tree finds satisfaction in making the boy happy.
• Ribbon Rescue by Robert Munsch – In this story, Jillian gives away all of the beautiful ribbons on her dress to help people in need who are on their way to a wedding.  After sacrificing her lovely dress and getting quite dirty in the process of solving everybody’s problems, Jillian is so disheveled that she is not allowed to enter the church for the wedding ceremony!  This book has a very happy ending, though, when some of the people that she helped make her the flower girl.
• The Quiltmaker’s Gift by Jeff Brumbeau – In this absolutely fabulously illustrated book, the king learns that only by sharing his wealth with others can he ever be truly happy.

Sibling Love

• Tell Me What It’s Like to Be Big by Joyce Dunbar - Willa’s big brother comforts her about the uncertainties of growing up.  Willoughby’s unfailing patience and kindness to his little sister is a wonderful example of love between siblings.
• Tell Me Something Happy Before I Go to Sleep by Joyce Dunbar – In another tale about Willa and Willoughby, Willoughby helps Willa get to sleep by talking about all of the wonderful things they will do the next day.  What I particularly love about this book is that the things that Willa looks forward to are little things like a yummy breakfast, playing with her toys, and wearing her chicken slippers.  Willoughby’s patience and kindness speaks volumes about sibling love.

Samantha homeschools her three children (14, 12, and 9).  When she’s not at home, you’ll probably find her at a pool since both of her older children are quite involved in USA swimming.  Samantha writes about homeschooling and family life at To Be Busy At Home.

Photo courtesy of www.freedigitalphotos.net.  The picture of the child with the apple was created by Clare Bloomfield.

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