Love is a story

An attentive meditation on love. Picture books devoted to exploring love can easily slip into syrupy, sweet sentimentality. Tarpley, however, avoids that trap with this work that focuses on everyday moments when we feel love. Following various families through all four seasons, this book demonstrates how love can be found in different forms and various situations. "Love is a puddle with you in the middle. / Love is a laugh in the rain." As a light-skinned, redheaded child plays with two light-skinned, gray-haired, older adults, "Love is a track / with a big red caboose // pulled by a tank engine train." The playful rhymes and warm illustrations depict a brown-skinned family roasting marshmallow on a summer night, a multiracial family crunching through autumnal leaves in the woods, and a brown-skinned Muslim family enjoying a snuggly hug on a snowy evening. The people depicted are racially diverse, and different kinds of families are portrayed. And, of course, there is always enough love to share. "Love is a hug / when you need it the most. // And the best part of love, / it is true… // If you give away all / the love in your heart // even more love will / come back to you." The book closes with all the families gathered at a park--a community connected by one powerful emotion. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A sweet reminder that love knows no bounds. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.