I Love You Because You're You (A StoryPlay Book)

From School Library Journal PreS-Gr 1—This reassuring story centers on a spirited, young bushy-tailed fox whose patient mother loves him no matter what he does or how he feels. Whether he's happily eating cookies, dancing silly dances, mourning a broken toy, or refusing to brush his teeth, mother fox's love is unconditional. McPhail's illustrations feature muted colors and lots of white space. There's a round softness that matches the comforting rhyming text. This series installment focuses on developing school readiness skills through prompts and activities. Each title in the series highlights a different ability—in this case, emotions. Extension activities, found on the final endpapers, include discussion questions to encourage children to express their emotions; a version of Simon Says; a rather lackluster list of words to search, find, and count; and a drawing prompt. Throughout the book, short dialogic reading prompts are printed in page corners, asking readers to discuss the story, use their imagination, make narrative predictions, and look for objects in the illustrations. There are a large number of prompts, enough for several readings, which makes up for the few that are rather forced. For instance, "Fox and Lamb are having a playdate! Do you know which animal is which?" Although children's librarians are already familiar with these types of dialogic reading questions, many caregivers will find the modeling helpful. VERDICT A satisfying story and plenty of dialogic reading prompts for caregivers make this an excellent choice for a themed kit or toddler-preschool giveaway.—Amy Seto Forrester, Denver Public Library "In this warm and fuzzy hug of a book, a parent's love knows no bounds." -- Publisher's Weekly "Make room on your shelves for one more sweet story in this genre." -- School Library Journal StoryPlay books offer exciting ways to engage with your little one during story time and playtime!Get school-ready with StoryPlay prompts and activities that help develop:Problem-solving abilitiesReading comprehensionSocial developmentPre-reading skillsMemory strengthThis book shines a spotlight on EMOTIONS Liza Baker is a children's book editor and the author of several books for young readers, including two previous titles illustrated by David McPhail, I Love You Because You're You, and Mama's Right Here. Liza lives in Westchester, New York, with her husband, Aaron, a Lieutenant in the New York City Fire Department, and her three very busy young sons, Gardner, Byron and Caleb. David McPhail was born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. He attended Vesper George University from 1957 to 1958 and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts School from 1963 to 1966. He has been an illustrator of children's books since 1967 and an author of children's books since 1971. He says he enjoys writing and illustrating as much as he did when he began. Read more