Super-Fine Valentine

I remember Bill Cosby, before the hit television sitcom and even before Fat Albert was a Saturday morning staple. I remember the comedy albums and the stories about being a kid. Even though he was funny, very funny, there was such a sense of pathos when he talked about having his tonsils out, or having to share a bed with his brother. When you look at everything Bill Cosby has done, from getting his doctorate in Education to his television shows, he has never ever forgotten what it was like to be a kid. The truth of that statement is very much in evidence in "Super-Fine Valentine," one of Cosby's "Little Bill Books for Beginning Readers." In "Super-Fine Valentine," Little Bill has developed a crush on Mia, a girl in his class. If that was not bad enough, his friends have noticed, his brother has found out, and even Mia appears to know what is going on. What will Little Bill do now that he is in love? Well, if you ever had the misfortune of being a young boy with a crush on a young girl (third grade, her name was Julia Garrow and she was the smartest girl in class), then you will recognize how much everything Little Bill goes through rings true. The going out of your way to walk by her house, trying to write the perfect card for Valentine's Day, and all the exquisite pain of being in love at an early age, are all here. In case Bill Cosby's story, which is illustrated by Varnete P. Honeywood, does not make it perfectly clear that a crush is something to be respected rather than a topic for teasing someone, there is a letter to parents by child psychiatry specialist Dr. Alvin Poussaint at the front of the book. What I liked best is that "Super-Fine Valentine" focuses on what Little Bill does and how he learns "it's good to tell people you like them." How does Mia feel about Little Bill? Well, we might have our suspicions, but that is not really important to the point of this book, which is another reason that I could not possible recommend it enough. What a wonderful book.

I've read all the Little Bill books to my four year old. He likes The Best Way To Play, but this one is my favorite. It really reminds me of my own young feelings.