I WILL LOVE YOU

A mother compares her love for her child to the delights of nature they share together.

As in many parent-child books, this one begins with a mother recounting how nature celebrated the birth of her child and how she first whispered her love for her daughter. Fanciful illustrations in what appear to be watercolor show the two floating on a cloud, parachuting back to earth, and then spending the day together. Mom is a light-skinned brunette, and the little girl has darker skin and a poof of brown, curly hair. As the mother and daughter lie side by side peeking at the fish over the side of a boat, the mother trails her hand in the water and tells her daughter, “When the world shares its smiles / And sometimes its blues… / When the gift of just being… / wraps snugly ’round you… // I will love you.” Yet not all the verses are accessible or understandable to young readers: “When the lark wakes the butter-yellow dawn in its flight… / When the fireflies dance, good night, good night… / When you reach for this whisper of words in your ear… / For all time, for all space, for forever. Everywhere… // I will love you.” While poetic, these words are likely to go right over children’s heads.

Syrupy-sweet and not likely to strike a chord with young readers.