Celebrate All Kinds of Love on Valentine’s Day

February 13th, 2012
Liz · Staff Recommendations

Aaahh, Valentine’s Day! ‘Tis the season for Conversation Hearts, flowers, chocolates wrapped in red and pink foil, and Valentine’s Day cards. Valentine’s Day is a celebration of love, whether that be romantic, platonic, or familial. It is also a day to honor friendships, both in the human world and beyond. There is a little something for everyone at the library when it comes to Valentine’s Day reading.

Can you imagine what happens when the hippie crossing guard in Weird School’s Mr. Louie is Screwy!puts a love potion in his school’s water fountain? You can be certain it makes for some pretty funny escapades!

You have never seen anything as aww-inspiring asOwen & Mzee: the True Story of a Remarkable Friendship which is the true story of a 130-year-old giant tortoise named Mzee and baby hippo Owen who adopt each other after the December 2004 tsunami. If these two really capture your heart you can find out more about them in the sequel Owen & Mzee: The Language of Friendship and learn about how they invented their own language.

Sometimes intergenerational friendships can be the most rewarding as two people come together and share their lives. In Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridgeby Mem Fox we meet the book’s namesake who cleverly helps his 96-year-old friend Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt find her memories.

Everyday routines are what nurtures strong familial bonds. In What Happens on Wednesdays an endearing preschooler describes a typical Wednesday with the warmth and familiarity of a cozy blanket. The reader gets to meet the deli guy, see her library, walk by the daycare where she used to go when she was “little” and participate in dinner time. Finally bed time comes and it’s all the reader can do not to read this book every bed time, or at least every Wednesday!

If it’s less narration you’re craving, check out Rainstormby Caldecott Honor medalist Barbara Lehman. It is a magical wordless story of a lonely boy in a grand mansion by the sea who finds an unmarked key which leads him to a lighthouse and a group of friends.

Finally, what write-up about Valentine’s Day books could be complete without mentioning Christian the lion from the video above? In 1969 John and Ace bought a lion cub they named Christian. He came home to live with them and immediately stole their hearts with his hugs. As he grew bigger Ace and John knew they needed provide him with a more appropriate habitat and so they brought him to Kenya where he quickly felt at home. You can read all about the story behind the video in Christian, the Hugging Lion.

Here’s hoping you and yours have a wonderful Valentine’s Day and a year filled with love and friendship!