And Here's To You!

Bummer this book was a family favorite. I wanted to send it as a new baby gift for a young family

I found this book a year ago for my 1 1/2 year old. A year later and it is still one of our favorites. In fact, it has become my favorite baby shower gift. The pictures are amazing and I love the message that all God's creatures are wonderful! It is a perfect book to make any child feel loved and special!

After reading many Candlewick books, it appears you're practically guaranteed a great children's book if they've published it. "And Here's To You" is no exception. It features creative poems, fantastic illustrations, and quality production (e.g., sturdy pages, excellent color reproduction, etc.) This book celebrates diversity and individuality without going preachy or too new-agey. In other words, it's a book that almost any kid is going to love. David Elliott's rhyming tributes to various animals are clever, fun, and winning: "Here's to the fish! The Bubble People! Fish! Here's to the spiny ones, The river and the briny ones, The toothy and the eely ones, All squishy squishy-feely ones Oh, I love the fish!" The animal pictures are bright and vividly colored illustrations, swirling with texture from Randy Cecil's oil on paper technique. To accompany the `dogs' poem, Cecil draws a girl surrounded by dogs who are fetching, howling, sleeping, sitting, and licking. "Here's to the dogs! The Dreaming People! Dogs! Here's to the howling ones. The running, yipping, yowling ones, All go and fetch stick ones, The LICK LICK LICK LICK LICK ones. Oh, I love the dogs!" The imaginative people metaphor is a wonderful conceit, authentically egocentric for its young audience. There are additional poems and pictures about birds, bears, bugs ("The Leggy People!"), cats, cows ("The Giving People"), and finally, people ("The People People!") and "you" ("The You Person!"): "... Oh, how I love you! The You Person! You Person You! Yes! You! I love you!" It's even more warm and fun than it sounds. A bighearted book, beautifully realized.

This is a delightful book that uses word play and utterly charming rhymes to spark kids' imagination about all kinds of critters -- from the "furry people" (cats) to the "people people". Read it straight for the sheer pleasure of the rhymes and illustrations; you'll giggle out loud and your kids will giggle right along with you. Or, use it interactively ("who do you think are the furry people?"), or reach even deeper for lessons about diversity and tolerance.Want a sample? The book was read on the air on National Public Radio's Weekend Edition Saturday program on Saturday, May 8th. Hear audio or get a transcript on NPR's site.

I really enjoyed this book. The story is simple (designed for children) and it celebrates a variety of creatures from frogs to cows to people to "you." I thought the whimsical illustrations really made this book great. The insects and the frogs especially made me smile. This is a nice keepsake, not a throwaway kid book.