W
hile we most
often associ-
ate
Valen-
tine’s Day and President’s
Day with February, it also
hosts National Love Your Pet
Day, National Wear Red Day
for Heart Health, World Day
of Social Justice, and it is
Black History month. Actual-
ly when we think about all of
these special days, they do in
fact have a common theme…
Love.
The Ancient Greeks be-
lieved there were 8 kinds of
love: Romantic Love, Affec-
tionate Love, Familiar Love,
Playful Love, Obsessive
Love, and the 3 most impor-
tant kinds of love; Enduring
Love, Self-Love, and Self-
less Love. If we think about the days we
celebrate in February, most of these can
fit into one of these categories — and, of
course, there is a book to help celebrate
each one!
For our youngest, just learning about
love, what it is, and how to express it, L is
for Love (Gibbs Smith, Layton,
2018, $9.99), written and illus-
trated by Greg Paprocki, might
be a good choice. In this enter-
tainingly illustrated board book,
we go through the alphabet
letter by letter, learning about
ways we can show our love,
those we love, different kinds of
love, and even why love is im-
portant in our lives. This would
be a fun book to share with little
ones to make them aware of all
of the ways they are loved by
those who love them.
My Little Gifts (Abrams
Appleseed, New York, 2019,
$16.99), written by Jo Witek
and simply illustrated in soft
pastels by Christine Roussey, is
a celebration of loving, giving,
and sharing. This sturdy interac-
tive book is complete with en-
velopes and flaps that open to
reveal many kinds of gifts and
16 WNY Family February 2019
PICK OF THE LITERATURE
— by Dr. Donna Phillips
ways to share them. From fancy holiday
gifts to simple handmade ones, and ev-
ery kind in-between, and from those that
involve time to make them or ways to
simply show someone you care, this book
will inspire everyone to celebrate those
we love.
Our local author/illus-
trator James C. Vincent has
given us another wonder-
ful book that is based on
his family and their expe-
riences. I’m Gonna Miss
My Brother (Fulton Books,
Meadville, 2018, $17.95) is
the touching story of Rita
and the first time she had
to be separated from her
little brother, Bubby. In
the beginning, the trip to
spend time with her grand-
parents seemed like a good
idea. No more bothersome
little brother! But soon that
turned to loneliness and
then to sadness. Through the
love and support of her fam-
ily, Rita learned one of her
first lessons in love. This is
a perfect example of “Familiar Love,”
the love between family members and
friends. This is a touching story to
which everyone who ever had a brother
or sister can relate.
It seems fitting that President’s Day
should fall in a month of Love. The
celebration of all that George
Washington and Abraham Lin-
coln did for our country is an
example of one of the highest
forms of love, “Selfless Love.”
In George Washington’s
Secret Six: The Spies Who
Saved America (Viking, New
York, 2019, $17.99), by Brian
Kilmeade and Don Yaeger,
we learn not only of George
Washington’s commitment to
his country and countrymen,
but about 6 more unsung he-
roes of the Revolution. For
anyone who is a history buff,
or those just learning about the
history of our country, this is a
fascinating read. As stated in
the introduction, “Washington
did not really outfight the Brit-
ish, he simply outspied us!”
(Major George Beckwith, Brit-
ish Intelligence Officer, 1782-
1783).