Whether between family, friends, or significant others, love brings joy and gives meaning to our lives. Our recommendations this month are made up of titles that celebrate love in all its forms.
1. Guess How Much I Love You
Age rating: 0-5
Sometimes, when you love someone very, very much, you want to find a way of describing how much you treasure them. But, as Little Nutbrown Hare and Big Nutbrown Hare discover, love is not always an easy thing to measure. The story of Little and Big Nutbrown Hares' efforts to express their love for each other has become a publishing phenomenon. This lovely board book edition is one that children will ask for time and again.
2. I LOVE MUM (The Very Hungry Caterpillar)
Age rating: 0-5
Mum . . . you lift me up . . . and hold me close . . . even when I'm snappy . . . that's why I love you, Mum!
Join The Very Hungry Caterpillar for a celebration of love and all the ways to tell your mum how much you care.
This delightful little book features Eric Carle's bright and distinctive artwork of animal mums and babies - from giraffes and crocodiles to bears and penguins - with The Very Hungry Caterpillar making an appearance alongside each one.
An ideal gift for Mother's Day, or any day you want to say . . . I love you, Mum!
3. Love from Pooh
Age rating: 12+
Wear your heart on your sleeve with this lovely gift book featuring words of love from the world's best-loved bear, Winnie-the-Pooh.
With original quotations from A.A.Milne and E.H.Shepard's timeless decorations, this little book is the ideal gift for the one you love on Valentine's Day.
4. Poems to Fall in Love With
Age rating: 13+
This gorgeously illustrated collection celebrates love in all its guises, from silent admiration through passion to tearful resignation. These poems speak of the universal experiences of the heart and are brought to life with Chris's exquisite, intricate artwork.
This perfect gift features famous poems, old and new, and a few surprises. Classic verses sit alongside the modern to create the ultimate collection. Includes poems from Neil Gaiman, Nikita Gill, Carol Ann Duffy, E. E. Cummings, Shakespeare, Leonard Cohen, Derek Walcott, Hollie McNish, Kae Tempest, John Betjeman and Roger McGough and many more.
5. The Boy In Striped Pyjamas
Age rating: 12+
A heartbreaking story embracing the beautiful love of friendship.
Nine-year-old Bruno knows nothing of the Final Solution and the Holocaust. He is oblivious to the appalling cruelties being inflicted on the people of Europe by his country. All he knows is that he has been moved from a comfortable home in Berlin to a house in a desolate area where there is nothing to do and no one to play with. Until he meets Shmuel, a boy who lives a strange parallel existence on the other side of the adjoining wire fence and who, like the other people there, wears a uniform of striped pyjamas.
Bruno's friendship with Shmuel will take him from innocence to revelation. And in exploring what he is unwittingly a part of, he will inevitably become subsumed by the terrible process.
6. Goodnight Mr Tom
Age rating: 10+
Winner of the Guardian Children's Fiction Award, and rightly hailed as a true classic of children's literature, Goodnight Mister Tom is a beautifully told, deeply moving story about the power of friendship, kindness, hope - and love.
Britain, 1940. With World War Two raging all around, young children are being sent from their homes in the city to the countryside for safety. When eight-year-old Willie Beech first arrives on Tom Oakley's doorstep, neither are quite sure what to make of each another.
Brought up in terrible poverty, Willie is terribly shy, and totally unprepared for village life - but the gruff-but-gentle 'Mister Tom' quickly takes him under his wing. Neither he nor Willie could ever have predicted the journey they will go on together - nor the unbreakable bond that will be formed.
7. My Family and Other Animals
Age rating: 12+
Ten-year-old Gerald doesn't know why his older brothers and sisters complain so much.
With snakes in the bath and scorpions on the lunch table, the family home on the Greek island of Corfu is a bit like a zoo so they should feel right at home...
Gerald joyfully pursues his interest in natural history in the midst of an unconventional and chaotic family life - all brilliantly retold in this very funny book.
8. The Song of Achilles
Age rating: 16+
Greece in the age of heroes. Patroclus, an awkward young prince, has been exiled to the court of King Peleus and his perfect son Achilles. Despite their differences, Achilles befriends the shamed prince, and as they grow into young men skilled in the arts of war and medicine, their bond blossoms into something deeper - despite the displeasure of Achilles's mother Thetis, a cruel sea goddess. But when word comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, Achilles must go to war in distant Troy and fulfill his destiny. Torn between love and fear for his friend, Patroclus goes with him, little knowing that the years that follow will test everything they hold dear.
WINNER OF THE ORANGE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
THE INTERNATIONAL SENSATION
A SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER.
9. Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair
Age rating: 18+
Pablo Neruda was probably the greatest and certainly the most prolific of twentieth-century Latin American poets. This, his third collection, Veinte Poemas de Amor y una Cancion Desesperada, or, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair, was first published in 1924 and attracted international acclaim. Still adored the world over, the collection is ambitiously metaphorical and sensuous.
Inspired by Neruda's own personal relationships and injected with an expressive eroticism, Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair is evidence of a genius poet at work. A perfect present for your beloved on Valentine's Day.
If any of these titles catch your eye, send us a message on Whatsapp (0778165319) and place your order!
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