Love You More Than Anything

by Anna Harber Freeman, Jed Henry (Illustrator)

Overview

"Lazy daisy,
grassy hugs.
Love you more than ladybugs.
Giggle, wiggle,
jump and run.
Love you more than playground fun.”

There's nothing children like better than hearing how much their parents love them! And this rhyming read-aloud assures kids—in so many ways—that they're loved more than anything in the world. Follow an adorable chipmunk family for a fun outing at the park, a special homemade cake after dinner, and a snuggle before bedtime—and all the while mom and dad find dozens of ways, big and small, to give their children the affection and security they crave.
Now abridged for the youngest readers!
 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781454914907
Publisher:	Sterling Children's Books
Publication date:	01/05/2016
Series:	Sterling Children's Snuggle Time Stories Series , #2
Pages:	24
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	3 Months to 3 Years

About the Author

Anna Freeman has degrees in art and education, and currently teaches elementary school art. She enjoys spending time outside with her husband and their two busy boys. Love You More Than Anything is her first book. Anna lives in Longmont, CO.
 
Jed Henry is most recently the author and illustrator of Cheer Up, Mouse! (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) and I Speak Dinosaur! (Abrams). His book Can't Wait Till Christmas, written by Mike Huckabee, was a New York Times bestseller. Jed loves drawing dinosaurs, ninjas, and lots of cute animals. He lives in Provo, UT.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for LOVE YOU MORE THAN ANYTHING
 
"Playful rhymes … bring realism to family romance … The affection the parents and their young feel is expressed within the outing's vocabulary . . . Henry's pictures of their tree-trunk house, and the woodland park they visit, are full of attractive botanical details that recur in the endpapers' pattern of acorns, kites, leaves and flowers. Sprightly rather than soppy, 'Love You More Than Anything' reminds readers that having fun together is one of the best ways families can show their love, whatever the day." —New York Times
 
“In this addition to the Snuggle Time Stories line, debut author Freeman and illustrator Henry (Good Night, Mouse!) offer a cozy assurance of parental love, with a close-knit family of chipmunks as their model . . . Both text and artwork emphasize low-tech, old-fashioned good times . . . A comforting, low-key portrait of family togetherness.” —Publishers Weekly
 
"Two chipmunk parents spend a day with their children, enjoying nature, playground fun, a picnic lunch, flying kites, and chocolate cake. After their busy activities, there's 'Sudsy, wudsy, splash, and laugh./Love you more than bubbly bath.' Love is expressed with hugs and laughter; even the bedtime routine is fun with this mom and dad. The double-page illustrations are playful and energetic, just like the colorful text. The ending is the best, though, because the sweet, soothing message will stay with children long past bedtime." —Library Journal

From the Publisher

Henry's pictures…are full of attractive botanical details that recur in the endpapers' pattern of acorns, kites, leaves and flowers. Sprightly rather than soppy, Love You More Than Anything reminds readers that having fun together is one of the best ways families can show their love, whatever the day.

The New York Times - Sarah Harrison Smith

12/02/2013
In this addition to the Snuggle Time Stories line, debut author Freeman and illustrator Henry (Good Night, Mouse!) offer a cozy assurance of parental love, with a close-knit family of chipmunks as their model. "Lazy daisy, grassy hugs./ Love you more than ladybugs./ Giggle, wiggle, jump, and run./ Love you more than playground fun," writes Freeman as four anthropomorphic chipmunks exit their tree-trunk home and head out to a jungle gym constructed from twigs. Both text and artwork emphasize low-tech, old-fashioned good times: after the playground visit, the family picnics outdoors, flies kites made of leaves, and makes chalk drawings before heading back home for cake, bath time, and bed. In keeping with that vibe, Henry dresses the boy chipmunk in a newsboy cap and suspendered pants, while his sister wears a smart sweater/skirt combo; their mother gets a full-length yellow dress and sunhat, and the animal friends they meet outdoors, including a frog and a squirrel, are similarly dapper. A comforting, low-key portrait of family togetherness. Ages 3–5. Illustrator's agent: Shannon Associates. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

02/01/2014
PreS-Gr 1—Two chipmunk parents spend a day with their children, enjoying nature, playground fun, a picnic lunch, flying kites, and chocolate cake. After their busy activities, there's "Sudsy, wudsy, splash, and laugh./Love you more than bubbly bath." Love is expressed with hugs and laughter; even the bedtime routine is fun with this mom and dad. The double-page illustrations are playful and energetic, just like the colorful text. The ending is the best, though, because the sweet, soothing message will stay with children long past bedtime.—Tanya Boudreau, Cold Lake Public Library, AB, Canada

School Library Journal

2013-11-27
Chipmunk parents and children display mutual attachment in this uncomplicated new entry in the teeming "I Love You More/So Much/This Much/Forever" genre. Anthropomorphic in dress and body proportions, a furry family sets out for a day of play and picnicking, followed by dinnertime, baths and bedtime. It's all punctuated by hugs, nuzzles and affectionate glances. Suspended on spreads of blank creamy paper with just occasional food items or tufts of grass for detail, Henry's smiling animal figures fly kites, make chalk drawings, relax on a checkered blanket and (in the parents' case) look on fondly as the daylong idyll passes. Despite occasional inexact rhymes and words selected more for sound than relevance, the accompanying patterned couplets warmly reflect each picture's mix of buoyant energy and happy but not wild action: "Sprinkle, twinkle, mix, and bake. / Love you more than / chocolate cake. // Sudsy, wudsy, splash, and laugh. / Love you more than bubbly bath." A bit bland, but it conveys the two-way message without turning syrupy. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews