Franklin's Valentines

Franklin's Valentines captures the true spirit of the holiday unlike many of the valentine books I've read where friends compete for the biggest or best valentine ever. I also appreciate that Franklin's predicament is realistic. I'm sure all of us at one time, or another have forgotten to bring something to school, or have lost, or broken items along the way. Children relate to Franklin's dilemma about feeling left out and embarrassed. The illustrations are bright and bold, which are certainly eye-catching. The author, Paulette Bourgeois, does a fine job of communicating her story without stretching the vocabulary, or being too wordy. There isn't any rhyme, or cadence to her text, but her sentence structure is easy to follow especially for young readers. Definitely a winner.

Rediscover Franklin! These wonderful books are full of humor, values and gentle guiding ways in everyday situations. A must for night time reading to calm boys and humor girls.

My daughter loved this story as did I as the emphasis on Valentine's Day was about friendship and taking a day and celebrating friendships. As Franklin lost all of his Valentine's in the mud and didn't have any for his friends, he couldn't believe they still wanted to give him their cards and letters. He realized that friends like you for who you are and not what you can give them. As a parent, if feel this is one lesson that your kids can't learn too often.

My daughter loved this story of Frankin making his own Valentine's for his friends at school and losing them in a puddle in his hurry to get to the bus. He becomes upset and can't believe, even though he doesn't have cards to give to them, they still want him to have the ones they've made. In the end, Frankin decides to make "Friendship Day" the day after Valentine's Day with cards he's made and carefully put in his bag. It just teaches a great lesson of how nice people can be and how to appreciate the friends you have.