Valentine’s Books For Kids

As the mother of a Valentine’s Day baby girl, I will admit I do Valentine’s in a big way. Valentine’s Books for kids, sweet little pairs of matching pyjamas, baking heart-shaped everything for all of February!

It’s just a lovely excuse to celebrate something as wonderful as love – all kinds of love – after the bleakness of a long, drizzly January really, isn’t it!? We don’t stick to books about romance – I think Valentine’s Books For Kids provide the perfect opportunity to appreciate love in every shape and form.

Now, I’m going to go through each book that sits on our bookshelves, but if you want to skip the chat, here’s a list linked of The Best Valentine’s Books For Kids.

So, without further ado, let’s talk about our favourite stories that authors have sent our into the world for our children to better understand that funny thing called love.

Love, By Corrinne Averiss

I have shared it before, and I will certainly be sharing it again – this book is a masterpiece.

‘Everyone loved everyone in Tess’s house.’

A story of Tess’s first day at school, and how distance and even tangles cannot break the strings of love that connect us. It’s an absolutely wonderful book, beautifully illustrated by Kirsti Beautyman and sits at the front of our bookcase all year round.

guess how much i love you, by sam mcbratney

‘I love you to the moon – and back.’

A classic that I imagine sits in most nurseries. Little Nutbrown Hare tries to express just how much he loves Big Nutbrown Hare… but it is just impossible to measure a love so big!

With Anita Jeram’s soft, sweet illustrations, this makes such a lovely gift for children and parents alike (and you can get a board book version for babies with grabby little hands that are prone to tearing pages!) It’s also a lovely addition to a bookshelf full of Valentine’s Books for kids.

crocodiles need kisses too, by rebecca colby

‘Despite their lumpy, bumpy hide, toothy mouths stretched open wide – just like me, and just like you, crocodiles need kisses too.’

Between Soloman Crocodile and The Enormous Crocodile, my children have been raised to be huge crocodile fans. It was a complete accident, but now any crocodile-themed book goes down a storm in our home!

Each page goes through the less-fluffy members of the animal kingdom, showing how everybody needs to be shown love.

It ends with a lovely illustration from Penelope Dullaghan, featuring a mother holding her small child:

‘What’s true for them is true for you – children need affection too. Despite our looks and what we do, we all need love… and I love you!’

the paper dolls, by Julia donaldson

A tale of a nice mum helping her daughter to make some paper dolls – who go on quite an adventure as they travel through the house.

They meet a dinosaur and a tiger, and finally a boy with scissors who cuts them into tiny pieces… but can’t keep them apart.

‘We’re not gone. Oh no no no! We’re holding hands and we won’t let go. And the pieces all joined together, and the paper dolls flew into the little girl’s memory. Where they found white mice and fireworks, and a starfish soap, and a kind granny, and the butterfly hair slide, and more and more lovely things each day and each year.’

It tells our children that love is never gone, it’s always part of us. A charming book with the deepest meaning and prettiest illustrations by Rebecca Cobb – it will forever be a favourite of ours.

i love you, by clemency pearce

A colourful little book about compassion and how three little words, I Love You, make everything better.

‘But what if someone else feels blue? Or they can’t run as fast as you? Maybe their temper grew and grew? Four special words… I love you, too!’

Nosy Crow books are just beautiful, and the details of Rosalind Beardshaw’s illustrations here are no exception.

forever, by beatrice alemagna

If you love unconventional, quirky tales with stunning illustrations and an offbeat feel – then you must fill your homes with Beatrice Alemagna’s creations immediately! There isn’t a single one that I wouldn’t run out to purchase again if we lost it.

This book points out the many things in life that don’t last forever: bad moods, nits, grazes, hair…

But there’s one thing that lasts forever – love.

‘In fact, almost everything changes or goes away. But there’s one thing that always lasts. Forever.’

slug in love, by rachel bright

I’m sure I could recite this one by heart – my younger son chose this one for his bedtime story every night for at least a month!

Doug is a slug who just wants love in his life. He meets a Snail called Gail and is immediately charmed… but unfortunately his love is not reciprocated. So continues Doug’s search for love in an unexpected place – with a ladybird!

‘But… you never know how, when or why, some love might just come flying by.’

plant a kiss, by amy krouse rosenthal

A short, simple, sweet story about how one small act of love (along with a little patience and caring) blooms into something big. Teaching the importance of kindness, Little Miss’s planted kiss brings joy to many as she chooses to share it.

My youngest, Nova, is nearly two and loves this book. She now plants a kiss in the vegetable patch every time we go out there!

‘Little Miss planted a kiss. Planted a kiss? Planted a kiss. Sunshine, water, greet, repeat.’

this is not a valentine, by carter higgins

If I had to pick one book for Valentine’s Day, this would be it. Without a shadow of a doubt!

It’s a book about how shiny, sparkly and generic a Valentine is supposed to be, all chocolate and diamonds, but how love is lumpy, wonderful, personal and about the different little details that mean the world to each of us – and true love is noticing those details. Lucy Ruth Cummin’s illustrations are textured, retro, diverse and marvellously charming.

I would absolutely buy this as a Valentine’s gift for my husband and each of my children! I’m going to buy them each a copy when they start high school.

‘This is NOT a Valentine, since those come with buckets of roses, and bushels of tulips, that smell like grannies fresh out the garden.

This is NOT a Valentine, since I don’t only like you today. 

I like you tomorrow and next Tuesday, and last week, too. I like you all the days…’

The pink umbrella, by amelie callot

Another story of noticing the details and being thoughtful, I was given the original French edition of this book when it printed in 2016 and couldn’t resist getting an English copy for my children a few years later. It’s so romantic, like a little sunshine between the pages.

Adele finds happiness in many things, from sunshine to flowers and the customers who come to her cafe, The Polkadot Apron. The one thing that is guaranteed to dampen Adele’s mood is a rainy day. But then one day, she notices an umbrella has been left at her cafe for her on a rainy day… and it happens again the next week.

Genevieve Godbout’s illustrations are glorious and everything you could want from a Valentine’s book.

‘Adele blushed. “Why not come and wait in the cafe? We’ll have to walk, but there’s room for two under the umbrella.”‘

love monster, by rachel bright

We live in a world where we love cute, fluffy things… and then there’s The Love Monster. He’s a little funny looking, and desperate to find love.

He’s looked high, he’s looked low, and he’s looked in the middle, too. But to no avail. Until he stops looking…

‘You see, sometimes when you least expect it, love finds you.’

kiss it better, by smriti Prasadam-Halls

With beautiful illustrations from Sarah Massini, these pages carry the message of how kisses all hold meaning. Whether they’re saying ‘love you’, ‘monsters shoo’ or ‘sweet dreams’, every kiss means something.

‘And you’ll never guess what, just like you – sometimes grownups need kisses too!’

harold snipperpot’s best disaster ever, by beatrice alemagna

A slightly unusual one for a list of Valentine’s Books for Kids, perhaps, but I adore this book. While the theme of the story may be how incredible things can unexpectedly emerge as the result of disaster, the parents are a spectacular addition to this unusual book.

you see, Harold’s parents are really grumpy. They don’t talk, look at each other or kiss – and that sets the tone for their family life. They’re a bit miserable.

So when Harold’s birthday party becomes quite eventful and a little adventure is injected into their lives, it ignites their passion for each other.

‘My parents climbed out, looking very relieved, and in front of everyone – I could hardly believe it – gave each other a big kiss. A giant passionate one, just like in a movie. And then they hugged and kissed me!’

I wish more books had parents giving each other smooches in. Children are a product of their experiences, and the worlds they fall into whenever they open a book should have as much love as the home they’re living in. 

Have a snog in the kitchen, and show your miniature humans how important affection is.

what is love, by mac barnett

A beautifully illustrated book where a boy asks his Grandmother ‘What is love?’

‘My grandma was old. I thought she would know.’

My favourite thing about this book is how she doesn’t just answer him – but tells him to go and explore to find the answer for himself. A lovely story of self discovery and the realisation that love means something different to everyone.

hug machine, by Scott campbell

A story of few words but a lot of heart – this little boy is nothing short of a hug machine.

Whether you’re tall, short, big, small, prickly or even square, you deserve a hug, and the Hug Machine is more than happy to oblige! Of course, even the Hug Machine himself needs a hug from his mum after a long day of hugging.

‘My hugs make the biggest feel small, and the smallest feel big.’

bunny roo, i love you, by melissa marr

Despite being a relatively new book, the soft, warm illustrations from Teagan White give this book a retro feel. A tale of how all babies throughout the animal kingdom are shown love and welcomed into the world.

A precious celebration of how parents nurture and reassure their young, ending in a mother embracing her baby – my one year old is always delighted at this point and declares it a picture of ‘mummy and Nova!’

‘Then you smiled, and I knew, you are not a bunny-roo-lizard-wolf-kitten-piggy. You are my baby.’

the boy who loved everyone, by jane porter

A soft, wonderful and relatable story about the subtle power of spreading love and kindness throughout the world.

Dimitri is always telling everyone he loves them – from his teacher, to the other children at his nursery and even strangers on the street. With the glorious innocence of childhood, Dimitri has an open heart and doesn’t understand why everybody doesn’t tell him that they love him too – but he soon learns that people show love in different ways.

“‘People have lots of different ways of showing howe they feel,’ she said, as they walked towards the canal. ‘When you tell people you love them, they feel it, even if you can’t always see it.'”

words and your heart, by kate jane neal

A glorious celebration of the power words hold, and how carefully we must choose what we say to others.

‘This book is about your heart – the little bit inside of you that makes you, you! … How about we all use our words to look after each other’s hearts?’

I think this is an important addition to any bookcase, and a message that is just as important for adults as it is for children.

lola dutch, i love you so much, by kenneth & sarah Jane Wright

Lola loves her friends so much, and wants to show them just how much. She’s got a lot of ideas for how to show them how she feels and what they love that she could give them – but despite being quite grumpy that day, it turns out that what they really love is… Lola Dutch!

A fun story of friendship and little acts of kindness that bring others joy.

‘Lola, you are such a good friend to everyone, we wanted to do something special for you, too!’

The bench, by meghan markle

I adore this book. It’s a heartwarming poem about the experiences a father and son will have as the years go by.

Christian Robinson’s illustrations are stunning and wonderfully diverse, incorporating families from different races, abilities and even military families (which is lovely as it’s a tricky lifestyle and rarely included in children’s literature!)

‘You’ll love him, You’ll listen, You’ll be his supporter.’

THe hug, by eoin Mclaughlin

A work of genius and most certainly one of my children’s absolute favourites.

The book is written in to parts: the first half is the story of the hedgehog’s journey in search of a hug, then you turn the book over and upside down to read about the tortoise’s journey for the same. Then they meet in the middle, and it’s really quite glorious!

“‘You’re just a little bit tricky to hug,’ replied Owl, ‘with all your prickly prickles. But don’t worry, there’s someone for everyone.'”

love grows everywhere, by barry timms

A beautiful book with lyrical text about how love makes the world a better place. Explaining that if you plant seeds and nurture them, love will grow. Creating a connection between emotions and nature, how love, like seeds, wants to grow – I could write out every single line as an example of how wonderful this book is.

‘Love grows everywhere, enough for all. Gift to share. Budding, branching, leaves unfurled… love will make a brighter world.’

There you have it – The Best Valentine’s Books For Kids. I would love to hear of any favourites of yours that I’ve missed… we’re always expanding our home library!

I hope you have a special Valentine’s Day, however you’re spending it,

Love, Helen x

Check out The Greatest Young Children’s Books Of All Time

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