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alittleoverdue's review
3.0
Full of vibrant color, this picture book explores the different ways animal species find mates and express love. The watercolor illustrations beautifully evoke Gaugin in their colors and style. I expected this to be about expressions of love more generally, but it's clearly focused on partnership love. It's visually alluring and I can see it appealing to animal lovers. This could also be a great choice for Valentine's Day and/or a springboard into more nonfiction books about animals.
*I received a free egalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
*I received a free egalley of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*
tsunanisaurus's review
3.0
The best thing about this book, for me, was [a:Alette Straathof|17912891|Alette Straathof|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s wonderful illustrations. Both my child and I really enjoyed them and found ourselves more interested in them than the story itself.
I feel like the odd one out among a sea of high ratings, but the story was awkward and outdated. I found the description of the book to be quite misleading to what was actually contained within the pages. It's described as 'celebrating all the ways creatures on our planet say I Love You'. To me, in a children's picture book, I anticipated reading something more tender and sweet.
The opening line is "It's the truth. There's no debate. Every creature wants a mate." and the image depicted is a group of young kids at school. I cringed reading it.
The book was very heteronormative, all the text was strictly referencing boy-girl, so I wouldn't give this one much points for inclusiveness. All the images were depicting romantic partnerships rather than ways to say we love the people in our lives. I wish it had been more about general love instead of focused on "mating". It just felt odd particularly for the age group this is intended for. It's not one we will add to our own personal library.
My rating: ★★★☆☆ (strictly for illustrations)
My child's rating: (￣。￣)～ｚｚｚ (she did not enjoy)
Would we read again?: no
Would we recommend to others?: no
Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing an ARC in exchange for our honest opinion and review
I feel like the odd one out among a sea of high ratings, but the story was awkward and outdated. I found the description of the book to be quite misleading to what was actually contained within the pages. It's described as 'celebrating all the ways creatures on our planet say I Love You'. To me, in a children's picture book, I anticipated reading something more tender and sweet.
The opening line is "It's the truth. There's no debate. Every creature wants a mate." and the image depicted is a group of young kids at school. I cringed reading it.
The book was very heteronormative, all the text was strictly referencing boy-girl, so I wouldn't give this one much points for inclusiveness. All the images were depicting romantic partnerships rather than ways to say we love the people in our lives. I wish it had been more about general love instead of focused on "mating". It just felt odd particularly for the age group this is intended for. It's not one we will add to our own personal library.
My rating: ★★★☆☆ (strictly for illustrations)
My child's rating: (￣。￣)～ｚｚｚ (she did not enjoy)
Would we read again?: no
Would we recommend to others?: no
Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for providing an ARC in exchange for our honest opinion and review
klmatranga's review
4.0
"Ways to Say I Love You" is a children's book about how creatures, like humans show their affection. The illustrations were beautiful but I felt the rhyming of the story was a little off and could have been improved.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
smorrison4's review
4.0
This was a beautifully illustrated book demonstrating the ways animals and humans attract mates. I loved all of the animal mating facts featured at the end of the book. Knowledgeable and beautiful.
Thank you NetGalley for the DRC.
Thank you NetGalley for the DRC.
aprilius_maximus's review
5.0
~ F R O M A M E L I E S B O O K S H E L F ~
representation: characters of colour and potentially queer couples?
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★★
This was absolutely STUNNING. I read this to Amelie at 3 months old and she was mesmerised by the beautiful watercolour illustrations! It also has a lovely rhythm while reading aloud because it rhymes! It's a lovely book that I'll definitely read to her again!
Thank you so much to words & pictures and The Quarto Group for the review copy!
representation: characters of colour and potentially queer couples?
[trigger warnings are listed at the bottom of this review and may contain spoilers]
★★★★★
This was absolutely STUNNING. I read this to Amelie at 3 months old and she was mesmerised by the beautiful watercolour illustrations! It also has a lovely rhythm while reading aloud because it rhymes! It's a lovely book that I'll definitely read to her again!
Thank you so much to words & pictures and The Quarto Group for the review copy!
saramackenzi's review
4.0
Ways to Say I Love You is a book in verse that talks and shows how different people and animals say and show that they love each other. We see examples such as delivering flowers, dancing, spreading feathers, making music, etc. The back of the book contains more information about how animals show affection to each other.
The illustrations in this book are great and I absolutely adore them. They're bright, vibrant, and you can see them transition as you go through the book. There was also a nice diversity in human couples shown in the book including LGBTQ+ and multicultural which is something I love to see.
The rhymes were simple and cute and I think a young child would like them. One thing I did notice is that for the most part, the book didn't specifically say a gender, it was always folks, person, or human. However, there was a time where it said "boys and girls hold hands" and while there is a picture on the page of 2 boys holding hands as well as a boy and a girl, the book never said anything about 2 girls or 2 boys. It may have to do with the rhyming and it might not have worked but if this is the case I kinda wish the author would've just stuck to the terms they were already using. There was another part where it says "every creature wants a mate" and a child might not think anything of this but I thought this was a weird way to put it. Again, it may have to do with the rhymes and that the book is about love but I don't think someone has to find or want a mate.
If you're not too worried about the specifics of the wording, I think this would be a great book, you could read it around Valentine's Day since the premise of the book is love.
The illustrations in this book are great and I absolutely adore them. They're bright, vibrant, and you can see them transition as you go through the book. There was also a nice diversity in human couples shown in the book including LGBTQ+ and multicultural which is something I love to see.
The rhymes were simple and cute and I think a young child would like them. One thing I did notice is that for the most part, the book didn't specifically say a gender, it was always folks, person, or human. However, there was a time where it said "boys and girls hold hands" and while there is a picture on the page of 2 boys holding hands as well as a boy and a girl, the book never said anything about 2 girls or 2 boys. It may have to do with the rhyming and it might not have worked but if this is the case I kinda wish the author would've just stuck to the terms they were already using. There was another part where it says "every creature wants a mate" and a child might not think anything of this but I thought this was a weird way to put it. Again, it may have to do with the rhymes and that the book is about love but I don't think someone has to find or want a mate.
If you're not too worried about the specifics of the wording, I think this would be a great book, you could read it around Valentine's Day since the premise of the book is love.
mutuallyinclusive's review
informative
fast-paced
4.0
Ways to Say I Love You by Marilyn Singer is an adorable book, perfect for young readers who are beginning to show an interest in biology or animals.
In this book, we learn of the mating rituals of certain animals and compare those behaviors to the actions humans take to say, “I love you”. There isn’t any information about reproduction; just a simple explanation of how humans and animals show love to one another. Children will see peacocks showing off their tail feathers, frogs puffing out there throats, and humans doing the waltz. The target audience for this book is 4-6 years old, so the text is a bit on the sparse side.
What Ways to Say I Love You lacks in text, it makes up for with beautiful illustrations by Alette Straathof. I also love that we have examples of both interracial and same sex couples represented in the illustrations!
I will say, I have a slight issue with the first page, which reads, “It’s the truth. There’s no debate. Every creature wants a mate”. Obviously, there are people in the world who prefer to be alone and are absolutely fulfilled human beings without a partner. Ultimately, I believe the exclusion of single people in a book about love just gives us a great opportunity to discuss self love, platonic love, and the aromantic experience.
The back of the book has an informative section with a little more detail on the courtship of all the animals mentioned, further explaining the mating habits of snakes, bowerbirds, whales, and more.
I would like to thank Quarto Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review! I’m sure this one will spark plenty of interesting conversations with my little guy when he’s a bit older.
In this book, we learn of the mating rituals of certain animals and compare those behaviors to the actions humans take to say, “I love you”. There isn’t any information about reproduction; just a simple explanation of how humans and animals show love to one another. Children will see peacocks showing off their tail feathers, frogs puffing out there throats, and humans doing the waltz. The target audience for this book is 4-6 years old, so the text is a bit on the sparse side.
What Ways to Say I Love You lacks in text, it makes up for with beautiful illustrations by Alette Straathof. I also love that we have examples of both interracial and same sex couples represented in the illustrations!
I will say, I have a slight issue with the first page, which reads, “It’s the truth. There’s no debate. Every creature wants a mate”. Obviously, there are people in the world who prefer to be alone and are absolutely fulfilled human beings without a partner. Ultimately, I believe the exclusion of single people in a book about love just gives us a great opportunity to discuss self love, platonic love, and the aromantic experience.
The back of the book has an informative section with a little more detail on the courtship of all the animals mentioned, further explaining the mating habits of snakes, bowerbirds, whales, and more.
I would like to thank Quarto Books for providing me with a digital copy of this book to review! I’m sure this one will spark plenty of interesting conversations with my little guy when he’s a bit older.
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