CM Magazine: I Love You, Little One.

________________ CM . . . . Volume V Number 9 . . . . January 1, 1999

I Love You, Little One.

Nancy Tafuri.
New York, NY: Scholastic Press, (Distributed in Canada by Scholastic Canada), 1998.
30 pp., cloth, $19.99.
ISBN 0-590-92159-2.

Subject Headings:
Animals-Infancy-Fiction.
Mother and child-Fiction.

Preschool - Kindergarten / Ages 3 - 5.
Review by Allison Langridge.

**** /4

excerpt:

Deep in the wood
by the mossy pond edge,
a little duck asks,
"Do you love me, Mama?"

And Mama Duck says,
"Yes, little one,
I love you as the pond loves you,
wide and calm beneath you,
giving you food and places to swim.
I love you as the pond loves you,
forever and always."

I Love You, Little One journeys to the various corners of a wood where baby animals ask their mothers the heartfelt question, "Do you love me, Mama?" Comparing her motherly love to that of Mother Nature's protective power and ever-lasting presence, each of the animal mothers - a deer, duck, rabbit, mouse, bear and owl - reassures her little one of love. The love between a human mother and her little one is also explored with the same tenderness and reference to nature.

The story's text is set against soft, soothing woodland scenes and colours. The images of mother animals and their babies are touching, and rightfully reflect this book's message of love and connectedness in the world. Best-suited for a pre-school audience, I Love You, Little One explores mother-child relationships in an intelligent and reflective fashion.

Highly recommended.

Allison Langridge works for Veteran Affairs Canada in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

Published by
The Manitoba Library Association
ISSN 1201-9364

TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THIS ISSUE - JANAURY 1, 1999.