Here is a great list of Valentine’s Day books to share with your children! To read the original post from Brightly, click HERE.

14 New Picture Books to Share with the Kids You Love This Valentine’s Day

by Iva-Marie Palmer

Just like we try to remember to be thankful on days that aren’t Thanksgiving and generous when it’s no longer the holiday season, we all work to do our best to honor the bonds of love (parent to child, friend to friend, neighbor to neighbor) both on Valentine’s Day and beyond. This new crop of picture books features some stories that are expressly about the holiday, some that are more about what love means in the everyday, and one option that sets its affections firmly on tacos. Great for gifting on February 14 and reading all year long, these reads are sure to warm hearts old and young.

Tilly and Tank by Jay Fleck In this age of political polarization, online feuds, and Twitter wars, we may not always set the best example for our kids of how to approach new people in the hopes of friendship. Fleck’s funny book is about Tilly, an elephant, who spies Tank on the horizon and at first figures the green machine for another elephant. The story reveals the joys of unlikely friendships and teaches tolerance and kindness as first steps to making the world better.

The 12 Days of Valentine’s by Jenna Lettice, illustrated by Colleen Madden In the same style as “The 12 Days of Christmas,” Lettice’s fun-to-read countdown to Valentine’s Day will be a fast favorite with the preschool and kindergarten sets. The rhyming list is a treat in itself but that the book includes stickers to share will have young hearts doubly aflutter.

Love by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Loren Long Newbery Medal winner de la Peña sent a message with his Last Stop on Market Street that the riches in life aren’t a matter of possessions but in possessing a perspective of gratitude. In his latest picture book, with breathtaking illustrations by Long, we’re reminded that love can assuredly be found all around us if we just stop for a moment to absorb and appreciate the many forms it takes. It’s a great way to reframe Valentine’s Day as being more about what we feel and transmit to our fellow humans than about how many paper hearts and chocolates we give or receive.

Valensteins by Ethan Long Geisel Award-winning author and illustrator Long asks the important question in this latest entry featuring the characters from his Fright Club: What could be more frightening than falling in love? Fran K. Stein is up to something and none of his monster pals can guess what. The last thing they’d expect is for Fran to be making a valentine. In hilarious fashion, Long shows readers that even the scariest monsters sometimes get a case of the warm fuzzies.

What the World Needs Now Is Love by Burt Bacharach and Hal David, illustrated by Mary Kate McDevitt The 1965 song you’ve surely heard (that lilting “What the world needs now is love, sweet love”) calls on us to appreciate each other — everyone, no matter whom. A valentine to the idea of overlooking no one and each person mattering, the message is arguably as resonant as it was in the ’60s. Vibrant illustrations in all the colors of the rainbow make this a visual treat, too.

Love from Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter Featuring original illustrations by Beatrix Potter, this small volume carries a sweet message that’s just right for a bedtime cuddle. (Fun fact: Peter Rabbit and his naughty but ingenious ways came about when Potter set out to write a letter to a 5-year-old son of her ex-governess and didn’t know what to write.)

Elmore by Hollie Hobbie It can be hard for anyone to make friends, but particularly a porcupine: Elmore is, after all, the very definition of prickly. Spikes shoot off his back at the most inopportune times. However, the warm message of this book is that the right friends take the time to get to know the true you, spikes and all. This sweet story is excellent to share this Valentine’s Day.

To read the entire list, click HERE

Original Post from www.readbrightly.com