Love Is In the Air: Celebrate with a Children's Book Giveaway { + Giveaway Hop Event}

Welcome to the Love Is In The Air Giveaway Hop hosted by Review Wire Media and Chatty Patty's Place.

From now through February 15th, hop along to feel the love and enter to win a variety of great prizes! Good luck!!

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**Books received for consideration. Post contains affiliate links. All thoughts are 100% my own.

Love is in the air!

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and with that many of us find ourselves thinking about love. And while we most often associate Valentine's Day with a more romantic love, it truly is a great time to celebrate EVERY type of love- romantic, friendly, family, even neighborly. It gives us such a great opportunity to talk with our kids about what it means to show love.

Of course, kids don't always listen to what we have to say on the subject... but they do tend to love books! Today, I'm sharing two fantastic new books that are perfect through Valentine's Day and beyond:

A warm-hearted homeless woman finds a home in Miss Pinkeltink’s Purse by Patty Brozo and illustrated by Ana Ochoa (ISBN: 978-0884486268; Hardcover $17.95; Ages 4-8).
From its humorous opening through its sad midpoint and uplifting end, Miss Pinkeltink’s story shines a light on humanity. This story with children as agents of positive change reminds us again that communities are best known by their treatment of the disadvantaged among them.
"Rosy-cheeked and quite antique, Miss Pinkeltink / carried everything but the kitchen sink. / Her purse was so big that it dragged on the floor. / When she rode on the bus it got stuck in the door."
Generous and eccentric, Miss Pinkeltink fills her huge purse with everything from a toilet plunger to roller skates, and then gives it all away. She offers tape to fix a flat tire and a bone to a kitty: Miss Pinkeltink’s gifts never quite hit the mark, / but she gave what she had, and she gave from the heart. And then, with nothing left to give or to shelter herself, she huddles on a park bench, trying to sleep in the rain. And that’s where Zoey sees her from her bedroom window and knows that something must be done.

The topic of homelessness isn't one that might not be easy to approach with our children. After all, it's not a happy topic and we as parents so often want to try to shield our children from the heartache in the world. Still, it's a reality in the world we live in, and something that many children are likely to come across. Growing up in the country, this wasn't something I dealt with as a child, but now living in the city, my kids see it upfront all the time. This book approaches the topic in a way that makes it a bit more understandable to children.

It's far from a depressing read though. Instead it's packed full of compassion, kindness and what it means to love your neighbor. As a Christian, these are messages that I strive to teach my children, and this book does it in such a fun, sweet way. I also love that it serves as a reminder that we don't have to have a lot to give to others. What a beautiful message to give our children. Now, I can't say if my 5-year-old picked up on all of that, but she did enjoy the sweet story and I know that though she might not remember the details, those message will sink in and stay with her as she gets older.

Have I Ever Told You? By Shani M. King and illustrated by Anna Horváth (January 2019; ISBN: 978-0884487197; Hardcover $14.95; Ages 5-6) holds the message of dignity that every child on this earth needs to hear: You are loved. You matter. You make me smile. You make me the happiest person in the world, just by being you.
“Have I ever told you that, for me, there is no one more special than you? That for me, you are the most special child in the world, and that I love you now and will love you forever? Have I ever told you that?”  
Shani King wrote Have I Ever Told You? as a note to his children, to remind them that they are amazing in their individuality and that they have the power to choose who they want to be in this world. The illustrations create a masterful visual narrative: warm, witty, simple, profound, and as ferociously empowering as a children’s book can be.

As parents, we love our children and want to make sure they know that. We want to make sure that they know they are smart, kind, capable, funny, everything and more. And we try to tell them that all the time. Sometimes we might find ourselves asking if we tell them enough... or if they truly understand how deeply that love runs. This sweet book serves as a great reminder. I absolutely loved it!

Okay, okay... my daughter enjoyed it too with it's repetitive flow and stunning pictures, but for me I loved that it truly does read like a love letter from a parent to their child. A message that I think kids can never hear too much of, especially at Valentine's Day. Sometimes parenting can be tough and we find that it seems like we argue with our kids constantly. 'Clean up your room!' 'Eat your dinner!' 'Finish your homework!' A book that celebrates how much we love and care about them, and how much they are capable of... well, that's so very much needed at the end of a tough day. I love it, and my daughter did too. It will definitely be one that is added to our regular reading list over and over again!



And one very lucky reader is going to have the chance to win a copy of both books. Enter using the giveaway form below:

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