Sweet {Literary} Treats for Valentine's Day

Some nights are for sharing deep, meaningful thoughts here on the blog.  And some nights are...not.  ;-)

This is one of those "not" nights.  Although I could write pages and pages about our family's adjustment to my mom's worsening Alzheimer's, I'm going to ignore all that for the moment and share some sweet pleasures I've enjoyed recently: children's books for Valentine's Day.  :)

I didn't go on any big search for books in this category, and I'm sure there are scores more that I am not familiar with; but three of these I happen to have on my shelf, and the fourth one was borrowed from the library a couple of weeks ago after it happened to catch my eye.  I like them all very much.

The first, Valentine by Carol Carrick, is a tender tale of a single mother raising a daughter with the help of the grandmother--and the weak, dying lamb that is born on Valentine's Day to the grandmother's favorite sheep.  Even though the scenario involves a single parent, it's not heavy at all but is a simple illustration of the life-giving power of love.

And I love the illustrations (done by Paddy Bouma).  :)

The next is a brief, historical account of the man for whom this holiday is named.  I'm not enough of a ancient Roman historian to know if all the details in this story are accurate; but even without that, it is wonderful to read of the sacrificial love of Valentine, as well as the unwavering faith that ultimately led to his martyrdom.  Of course, the martyrdom is only alluded to in this book, not written out in full detail!  I think this one is a great introduction to the story behind the holiday, a valuable thing to learn about all of our holidays!

This next one has been a favorite of mine ever since I got it at the Green Valley Book Fair in 2007.  :)  I'm crazy about the way these two bears relate to each other--so generous, so loving, so playful, so silly.

So, so sweet.  And the fantastic illustrations by Jan Brett, one of my favorite illustrators, are icing on the cake!

This last one is the one I spotted at the library and decided to bring home, and I'm glad I did.  The Little Bear books make me smile (Little Bear's mother is so sensible, not to mention cheerful, patient, and loving), and it was fun to get acquainted with a previously-unknown-to-us book from a previously-known-to-us author!  :)

Although these books aren't deep by any stretch of the imagination, they do have a whole lot of love mixed into them!  Love for family (close and extended), love for animals, love for God, love for the hurt, love for the beauty of nature, love for a husband or wife, love for a child, love for neighbors.

This much love makes life so sweet, but at least this kind of sweet is the calorie-free kind.  ;-)