Kid Konnection: Valentine's Day Edition

Every Saturday, I host a feature called Kid Konnection -- a regular weekend feature about anything related to children's books. This week, I'm going to share with you some adorable books that are perfect for Valentine's Day.

Summary: Even boys will fall in love with this valentine!

Leon has a crush. A let-her-cut-in-line-at-the-water-fountain kind of crush. And he's got the perfect valentine. But this valentine has no intention of getting caught up in any romantic conspiracy. "Love is yucky, kid! Valentine's Day is all about CANDY!" the card yells at Leon, before leaping out the window and running away, leaving Leon to chase it across town, collecting interested kids along the way.

Here is a hilarious take on the holiday that boys love to hate, the most complex holiday of them all. Saying "I love you" has never been so yucky or so sweet. -- Dial

THE YUCKIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE EVER by Brenda A. Ferber is just precious! I wasn't quite sure that Booking Son would like a book about Valentine's Day and crushes, but we read it together and had a great time. He adored this book and there were many laughs between the two of us.

THE YUCKIEST, STINKIEST, BEST VALENTINE EVER tells the story of Leon and his crush on a very special girl. The valentine wants no part of Leon's crush and keeps telling Leon that love is yucky and Valentine's Day is all about the candy. As the valentine jumps out the window and runs away, Leon begins a chase which takes them through town picking up a variety of kids along the way. Naturally, Leon and the valentine end up with Leon's crush and her valentine; and everyone discovers that Valentine's Day is definitely about more than just the candy!

The book was so cute and so silly and I just loved it! I'm not sure what I liked more though, the story or the illustrations. The pictures were by Tedd Arnold and they were perfect for the fun and whimsical nature of the book. I absolutely loved the heartsick look in Leon's eyes as well as many of the characters' facial expressions.

Highly recommended!

Summary: This giftable little picture book of haiku by award winner Betsy Snyder is something adults will love to give one another as much as they'll enjoy sharing it with the youngest listeners. Perfect for Valentine's Day and any day of the year, this book will inspire people to tell one another, "I haiku you!"  -- Random House

I HAIKU YOU by Betsy Snyder is a beautiful book that's perfect for Valentine's Day! This book celebrates love and appreciation and features twelve two page spreads with haikus and corresponding illustrations.

Each haiku is dedicated to showing love towards special things like lemonade, a teddy bear, a friend, a dog and even s'mores. It's too darn cute and it's a great way to introduce this Japanese form of poetry to little ones.

Summary: It's Valentine's Day and the 10 little neighbors in this book are busy making Valentines for their closest friends.

A dinosaur card, thinks little Pete,
My pal Max would find really neat.

Will everyone get a Valentine at the big Valentine's Day party? You can count on it!

With its fun counting element, bouncy text, and adorable illustrations, this book is the perfect gift for young lovebugs. -- Knopf

10 VALENTINE FRIENDS by Janet Schulman and illustrated by Linda Davick is a rhyming board book that not only shows the importance of friendship but also teaches children to count from one to ten. In 10 VALENTINE FRIENDS, ten friends make individualized Valentines for each other. Each child thinks of something special that their friend might like and designs an appropriate Valentine! For instance, Priscilla makes a gorilla valentine for her friend Tom; and Pete makes a dinosaur one for Max.

This book was cute but I especially liked that the right column on each page spread kept a running total of the valentines. This is a great way to teach basic counting to toddlers and preschoolers.

Summary: Tweet Hearts features two little lovebirds and ten little hearts. Preschoolers and their parents will love counting all the hearts from ten to one while reading along with the rhyming text.

Susan Reagan's graphic, stylish illustrations of adorable lovebirds round out the package . . . and there's a pop-up on the last spread: One big heart says I love you! -- Robin Corey Books
 
TWEET HEARTS by Susan Reagan is another adorable board book that is perfect for the little ones in your life. This book counts down hearts from ten to one and there is even a surprise pop-up at the end. The illustrations of the two lovebirds and the various hearts are super cute too!

Rather than try to tell you how sweet this book is, I'll just let this video do the talking:

Thanks to Blue Slip Media and the publishers for providing review copies of these books.

If you'd like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children's books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, please leave a comment as well as a link below with your name/blog name and the title of the book! Feel free to grab the little button too!