Twelve Books That Say “I Love You”

In this picture book full of majestic paintings, a young boy reveals his favorite places around the family farm. When his baby sister is born, he shares with her the wonders of their surroundings.

This is a great bedtime story for reading with your children or, in my case, my grandchildren. This lovely book has become a reference point for expressing our love for one another. Sometimes, Alexis says “I love you all the way up to my toes.” And, sometimes, Kasie says “I love you right up to the moon.” And sometimes I say “I love you right up to the moon… and back.”

An Asian American girl shares how her family expresses their love for one another through actions rather than words. How do you tell your family that you love them? For Hana, love is all around her: Mom stirs love into a steaming pot of xifan. Dad cheers with love at her soccer game. Hana says good night with love by rubbing her grandma’s feet and pouring her grandpa his sleepy tea. And as the light fades, Hana’s parents tuck her into bed and give her a good night kiss. So many families express their love in all they do for one another, every day. Here is a book that wraps you in a hug and invites your family to share their own special ways of showing love.

A wise and loving mother reassures two brothers that each has a special place in her heart. Barbara Joosse’s heartwarming text is beautifully complemented by Mary Whyte’s engaging watercolor illustrations.

Celebrate Mother’s Day every day. This celebration of the bond between mothers and their babies can be shared at naptime or bedtime or whenever it is time to say “I love you.”

This story of an Inuit child testing the limits of her independence, and a mother who reassuringly proves that a parents love is unconditional and everlasting. Beautiful illustrations of Alaska and the characters convey the cultural richness of this timeless story.

A day in the life of parent and child-full of smiles and giggles, messes and meals, boundless energy and well-earned rest. Not to mention lots of love. Here, in simple rhyming verse accompanied by colorful, playful illustrations by world-renowned artist Satomi Ichikawa, is one such day. Share it with others and treasure the memories.

“I love you” may sound different around the world, but the meaning is the same. From China, to France, to Russia, to Brazil, and beyond, this charming board book features “I love you” in 10 different languages. Tapping into the emotions that parents feel for their children, the rhyming text is accompanied by sweet artwork that depicts different cultures around the world.

The mother sings to her sleeping baby: “I’ll love you forever / I’ll love you for always / As long as I’m living / My baby you’ll be.” She still sings the same song when her baby has turned into a fractious 2-year-old, a slovenly 9-year-old, and then a raucous teen. So far so ordinary–but this is one persistent lady.

There is nothing more important to a child than to feel loved, and this wonderful gathering of poems celebrates exactly that. The illustrations add a flourish of color, shape, and movement, and a visual layering that helps impart the most important message of all to young, old, parent, child, grandparent, and friend alike: You are loved. One page is mirrored, so children reading the book can see exactly who is loved — themselves!

From simple love to love mysterious, love oh so hot to love rather coolish, Sandra Boynton and her ubiquitous hippos, turkeys, and cats consider the moods (and “many ways”) of love. In impressive rhyming verse, Boynton holds forth on myriad kinds of love, accompanying each rhyme with illustrations of various romancing critters.

“If you run away,” said his mother, “I will run after you. For you are my little bunny.”A little bunny keeps running away from his mother in this imaginary game of hide-and-seek, yet the lovingly steadfast mother who finds her child every time.