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A review by tsunanisaurus
Ways to Say I Love You by Marilyn Singer
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I feel like the odd one out among a sea of high ratings, but the story was awkward and outdated.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I feel like the odd one out among a sea of high ratings, but the story was awkward and outdated.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