I love you because I love you by Muon Thi Van. Illus. by Jessica Love

If you have read Julian is a mermaid and Julian at the wedding then you will know Jessica Love’s wonderful illustrations. Combined with award winning author, Muon Thi Van’s engrossing story of love, I love you because I love you will give every reader a warm feeling of recognition and desirability. From the front cover children will recognise the emphasis on family, of sharing, of being together.

Each beautiful page turns the words around. The first statement says,  ‘I love you because you’re here,’ becomes on the facing page, ‘Because I love you, I am here’.  So through the book are such reflective statements which will intrigue the readers.

On one page is a couple with the child, on another, we see grandparents, on another, a Mum, and on others, the child and their friends.  Sometimes the single person is a Dad, sometimes a Mum, and children will be pleased to see a wide rage of family styles covered. 

The fun filled pages will make readers smile, as we see people doing a lot of things together: looking at the stars, swinging on a swing hung in a tree, being tossed in the air, having afternoon tea, soccer, climbing the tree, painting, being part of an audience at a sports game. Each time we read one of these sentences that is turned around, we are having the idea of family reinforced.

This lovely book will be a treat to read aloud, asking children to see how they can turn the sentence around to reflect the love that exists between member of the extended family.

Themes: Family, Love, Parents, Humour.

Fran Knight