Image via WikipediaI Love You More...Than Chocolate
Written by Melanie Milburn
Illustrated by Cindy Coleman
Over the years, whenever I read to one or more of my nieces and nephews, I noticed that, nearly always, it was the colors and illustrations that first got the children interested. Pointing out pictures that, age appropriate, would interest the individual child would begin that interaction between the reader and the child being entertained. I was therefore impressed when different types but very colorful designs were used as backgrounds on many of the pages. This was done by using relevant scrapbook backgrounds! For me, who had not previously seen scrapbook materials, I was delighted not only with the concept, but the ability to find backgrounds that suitably complemented the story! Kudos for this great idea!
The author is a preschool teacher and songwriter...and her passion for kids and music clearly come through. In fact, the book started out as a song--and a CD of the author singing the song, "I Love You More Than Chocolate, is included inside the back cover--Cool, right?! But her other known passion is one that many others will also have--Chocolate! And if you live with a chocoholic, everybody, including the kids will know this. If you are a child living in a home where a parent loves chocolate, you just might have heard:
I love you...more than...chocolate!Hey, how about listening to the whole song that is sung by the author!
Many children will ask, "How much do you love me?" and this book provides a poetic story of a mother and child sharing about love and how much the parent does indeed love the child. Introducing the book first so that the child begins to recognize daily things in their lives and then listening to the rhyming words will quickly gain attention. Listening to the song, depending on the child's age, may find your child moving to the music or, if old enough, the song will be easily learned and sung so that the words will soon be memorized. Who knows, your little chocoholic might grab a small piece of candy, a glass of chocolate milk, or a bowl of chocolate-flavored cereal and start singing the song...to YOU!
I won't claim to love chocolate as a favorite, but I will claim that this book is one that will quickly result in a great sharing of love--the cover and inside pages are beautifully done and will entice the child to explore the pages and then ask for you to read the easily spaced words surrounding each picture that complements the story.With the added music, I believe this well-crafted book will quickly become a favorite! Highly recommended!
Book Received Via
Bostick Communications,
To Press and Beyond
GABixlerReviews
When Melanie would tuck her children into bed at night, she made sure they knew how much they were loved. She told them she loved them more than anything--even chocolate! Her children knew she was a chocoholic, so they had no doubt, they knew they were loved!
Melanie is an award winning song writer and when she is not teaching preschool, she enjoys sharing her songs at family concerts. Click the title of this article to visit Miss Melanie at her web site.
What a neat concept.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree Gail!
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