I'll Always Love You

I'll Always Love You by Paeony Lewis
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My daughter and I LOVE this book. The story is about a little bear who accidentally breaks his mother's favorite honey bowl while trying to surprise her by fixing her breakfast. He's afraid she'll be so mad she won't love him any more, so he tests the waters before he confesses by making up various scenarios of misbehavior to see how she reacts. She always responds with "I'll always love you, but you will have to [insert appropriate consequences here]."

I love that this board book shows children they will be loved no matter what mischief they get into, and there are logical consequences for actions--if you get paint on your baby sister, you will have to give her a bath, etc. I also love that it depicts a child telling the truth even when he knows his mother will be upset and that his relief when he knows he's forgiven allows him to think of a solution for replacing the broken bowl. His "flat brain" becomes three-dimensional again (see Jim Petersen's book Why Don't We Listen Better for reference).

This is a great choice for parents and grandparents (or any other adults) to read to little ones.

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