"Spread the love" could easily be an alternate title to this clever book that's ideal for Valentines of all ages.
Amy Krouse Rosenthal (Duck? Rabbit!) and Peter H. Reynolds (The Dot) each boast a long list of titles that demonstrate their fresh way of looking at the world. Here they combine their talents in a new twist on how affection takes root and spreads like tiger lilies. A young gardener heads out with her spade and watering can, stamped with a pink heart: "It goes like this./ Little Miss/ planted a kiss." As if anticipating young readers' reaction, the author restates it as a question, "Planted a kiss?" The girl hero faces front as if listening to her audience. She answers with a confident smile in a declarative: "Planted a kiss." Reynolds's trademark hand lettering gives the book the feeling of a hand-me-down recipe, as the gardener explains her next steps: "Sunshine. Water. Greet. Repeat." Deceptively simple rhymes chronicle her shifting moods: "Doubt. Pout" when no shoots show, then when she spies a "sprout,... Shout! Shout!" In Reynolds's visual equivalent, she does a jig in the air, sunlike rays emanating from her, and her neighbors soon "gather about."
The sprout grows into a bubbling airborne confetti, raised from the pages in pinks, yellows and oranges. As the heroine's friends tell her to hold onto her blossoming tendril ("It's far too rare"), she shares it anyway and, like Annabelle's wool in Extra Yarn, the supply is endless. Love, like generosity, reaps more than what's sown. A wonderful Valentine for youngest booklovers up through the most seasoned readers. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness