THE I LOVE YOU BOOK
by Todd Parr
“I love you when you are scared. / I love you when you are brave. / I love you when I am away. / I love you when we are cuddled up close.” A characteristically multicolored cast of parents strings together declarative sentences to describe all the conditions under which they love their children, ending with, “Most of all, I love you just the way you are.” Parr’s entry in the Valentine’s Day sweepstakes looks like every other one of his books—childlike figures with heavy black outlines, bright primary hues with little regard to real coloration—and sounds like 90 percent of the rest of the “I love you” books. Ho-hum. (Picture book. 2-5)