Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Clayton's companion to The Awesome Book! is an exclamatory love poem ("I love you so much/ I would scream it from mountains/ And dance like a fool in/ the coldest town fountains"). Quirky drawings in rainbow shades have a psychedelic edge (a purple bear with hearts blasting from its chest could have stumbled off of a Grateful Dead album cover), while the verse might have been sampled from indie rock: "Sometimes it's a whisper/ when you feel you could shout/ or just being around/ when the others have gone/ or about/ letting go/ when you want to hold on." Peculiar creatures frolic throughout-an elephant parachutes from a plane, a robot embraces a dinosaur-creating a fresh and lightly irreverent backdrop for Clayton's earnest verse. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In this follow-up to An Awesome Book (HarperCollins, 2012), Clayton's feel-good message continues. Rhyming verse explores matters of the heart, from effusive proclamations like "I love you so much/I would scream it from mountains/and dance like a fool in/the coldest town fountains," to reflective moments of "Letting go/when you want/to hold on." Some of the sentiments lean toward the trite ("You're you/and I'm me/and we're as together/as together can be"). Exuberant pen-and-ink illustrations feature robots hugging dinosaurs and entwined scarves that look like snakes. With its cacophony of hand-lettered, uppercase text and busy backgrounds covered in flowers and rainbows, this book is indeed passionate, if not a bit overwhelming.-Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This follow-up to An Awesome Book! is a meditation on love as a concept; it's a long-form valentine illustrated with color-bursting fantastical art recalling hippie-era posters. While giddy-making, the less than profound rhymes ("I love you! I love you! In so many ways / Over thousands of years / Over billions of days") don't shed new light on the subject. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Clayton, the former self-publishing phenom, continues his series of books about awesomely big concepts. Here, he proclaims and exalts love in language best described as rhyming stream of consciousness. As in An Awesome Book (2012), the author's voice is both intimate and enthusiastic, as if speaking to a child: "AND WHEN I'M BESIDE YOU I'M LEAPING AND BOUNDING / SO PROUD I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN MY HEART POUNDING." As the verse goes from playfully fantastical imagery to (hopefully) tongue-in-cheek greeting-card doggerel, ultimately this title begs the question, who is this for? It's a bit too kooky for emerging readers and a tad rambling for middle graders, and the all-uppercase text, which lacks punctuation, makes for a challenging read-aloud. The illustrations may be this title's best hook with kids since they are full of detail and have an accessible, childlike quality. Still, readers may come away from it wondering if this is a truly sincere attempt to "SHARE THE LOVE" or a rather hokey effort that is riding the wave of previous titles' popularity. As with most books that have an inherent tension within, readers will either enthusiastically respond to this title, with its outsider, hipster vibe, or pass due to its lack of polish and resistance to easily fitting into any single reader category. (Picture book. All ages)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
