If I Could: A Mother's Promise
PreS—In the vein of Sam McBratney'sGuess How Much I Love You(Candlewick, 1995) or even Margaret Wise Brown'sThe Runaway Bunny(HarperCollins, 1942), this book allows parents to express how deeply they care for their children. Written in a series of rhyming verses, it features a mother raccoon who tells her son how much she loves him throughout a day spent mostly at the beach, such as "If I could,/I'd paint the flowers/to brighten all/your waking hours." While the narrative is addressed to the child, the rhyming scheme seems forced and the sentiments seem more geared to adults than to youngsters. The illustrations, too, celebrate the things that parents love most about their children, such as their natural curiosity about the world. Denise's illustrations show the mother raccoon and her toddler son going through their active day in terrific detail. Their love for one another is apparent in the details—the hand holding, the sweet smiles. Unfortunately, the warm illustrations are not enough to keep preschoolers involved in this story.—Susan E. Murray, Glendale Public Library, AZCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.