Hap-Pea Valentine's Day

November 1, 2024
Baker's industrious, pea green micro-veggies return to celebrate Valentine's Day. This cheerful tale focuses on celebration, cooperation, friendship, and heart-shaped everything: "pocket hearts" (the stitching on jeans), "chalky hearts" drawn on sidewalks, the "fluttery hearts" of butterflies' wings, and "pizza hearts," of course. (These peas are enthusiastic, opportunistic snackers.) While the rhyming text can be choppy in spots, Baker's clever visual interpretations of the theme have plenty of compensatory charm as these busy legumes prepare--and share--their exuberant messages of love. They drive construction equipment up a mountain of candy hearts, tend a plot of heart-shaped flowers in the glow of a (heart-shaped) sun, excavate pink cookies from a gigantic jar, and load brimming bags of valentines into heart-patterned hot air balloons, scattering joy below. Sharp-eyed kids will spy not only a returning ladybug, but also a winged, pea-bodied Cupid who appears throughout, aiming to spread even more love. The peas have various hairstyles and wear different accessories, including hats and eyeglasses; one uses a wheelchair. Though all the peas are green, they vary somewhat in shading. A final illustration depicts Cupid, mission accomplished, peacefully slumbering on a pillowy cloud. An amusing valentine confection, delivered in high style.(Picture book. 2-7)

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December 1, 2024

PreS-Gr 3-A Valentine's Day book that illustrates a variety of "heart" vocabulary words to celebrate the holiday. On February 14, the peas celebrate love with many kinds of hearts, including locket hearts, candy hearts, chocolate hearts, and more. No matter the type of heart, they all express "I love you!" To maximize the introduction of new vocabulary words, each page is full of various illustrated hearts with the little peas hiding all throughout the background for children to find. Photoshop illustrations have a dreamy and romantic watercolorlike style and are saturated with jewel-tone reds, pinks, and purples that invite readers to find the peas and see how they are all celebrating the holiday. Although the illustrations seek to define the words, some-"blurry," "ascend"-feel conceptually ambitious for younger children. Overall, this is a solid entry to the series that expresses love and holiday themes for little ones keen on learning more. VERDICT A solid vocabulary or holiday book with repeat-read value for bulking up holiday titles.-Jessica Bushore

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