I Loved You First

by Jenna Bush Hager, Barbara Pierce Bush, Ramona Kaulitzki (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Celebrating the love between parent and child, this warm and welcoming tale captures that connection and is best when shared.

A New York Times Bestseller! Celebrate the bond between parent and child in this lyrical story by former first daughters and #1 New York Times bestselling authors of Sisters First Jenna Bush Hager and Barbara Pierce Bush.

There is nothing more important than the time we spend together, learning to see the world through each other’s eyes. From counting constellations to imagining shapes in fluffy clouds to hiking great canyons or jumping into the ocean, the special moments between a mother or father and their child are some of the most memorable and precious in our lives.
 
Inspired by the majesty of nature all around us, I Loved You First is an expansive and gently whimsical celebration of parental love and a companion to Jenna and Barbara’s New York Times bestselling children's books Sisters First and Love Comes First.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316525299
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/25/2025
Series:	Sisters First , #3
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jenna Bush Hager is the co-host of TODAY with Jenna & Friends and the founder of TODAY’s Read with Jenna book club and her own production company, Thousand Voices. She is the coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers Love Comes First, Sisters First, The Superpower Sisterhood, and Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life with her twin sister, as well as Our Great Big Backyard and Read All About It! with her mother, former First Lady Laura Bush. She is also the author of an essay collection, Everything Beautiful in Its Time.
 
Barbara Pierce Bush is a board member and cofounder of Global Health Corps, an organization that has mobilized more than one thousand young leaders to solve some of the world’s biggest global health challenges, as well as Vice President, Social Impact for the National Basketball Association. She is the coauthor of the New York Times bestsellers Love Comes First, Sisters First, The Superpower Sisterhood, and Sisters First: Stories from Our Wild and Wonderful Life.
 
Ramona Kaulitzki is the illustrator of the New York Times bestsellers Love Comes First, Sisters First, and The Christmas Owl, among numerous others. She invites you to visit her online at ramonakaulitzkiart.com and on Instagram @ramonakaulitzki.

Editorial Reviews

A New York Times Bestseller
An Amazon Best Book of the Month for Baby–Age 2
 

"This charming book, written in simple but rich and warm prose, affirms parents’ heartfelt, never-ending love for their children.... An affecting offering that will make a much-appreciated gift for baby showers and new parents."—Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Love Comes First:

A New York Times Bestseller
An Amazon Best Book of the Month

"An inspiring message for all; this will also be appreciated as a new-baby gift."—Kirkus

Praise for Sisters First:

2019 ABC Best Books for Young Readers

"[A] heartfelt picture book tribute to sisterhood—both literal and figurative."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2024-10-25
A sweet expression of parental devotion authored by the former first daughters.

This charming book, written in simple but rich and warm prose, affirms parents’ heartfelt, never-ending love for their children: “I loved you first.” And, they assure their adorable offspring from the age of infancy on, they always will, no matter the time, place, or circumstance. Can a child ever hear anything lovelier? The racially/ethnically diverse mothers and fathers depicted in this beautiful book, its illustrations digitally created with watercolor and pencil brushes and richly enhanced with hand-painted textures, are portrayed in vividly colorful locations filled with lush imagery. Everywhere, parents reiterate their steadfastness and promise always to be there and to do things together. The parents also inform their children of the connections between the parent/child unit and the world of nature. In one flower-bedecked scene, a mom tells her young daughter as they make and wear floral headgear, “From honeysuckle and poppies we’ll make fragrant flower crowns. You will remind me to smell their sweetness.” In a swimming scene, a dad declares, “Jumping into the ocean will take our breath away, like when I held you for the first time. I gasped…because I loved you fiercely, and first.” Fittingly, the book concludes with a mom tucking her child into bed, telling her, “And know that I loved you first, and I will love you forever.”

An affecting offering that will make a much-appreciated gift for baby showers and new parents.(Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews