Thank you for the opportunity to review this children's book, "Ways to Say I Love You" by Marilyn Singer.

First of all, I believe that one of the strongest aspects of this book is the beautiful illustrations. The wonderful colors and high quality illustrations set this book above those similar in story and aim. Likewise, the rhyming was well-done without sacrificing the "believability" or authenticity of the story.

All in all, I echo the sentiments that I think several other reviewers agree on: this is a beautiful children's book that entertains both young and older readers!

Thank you so much again. Good luck with you publication!

I am a sucker for cute picture books ESPECIALLY when they include animals. "Ways To Say I Love You" is such a cute books. I love that it compares human and animal interactions. It teaches young readers different forms and ways both people and animals can show affection to one another.

This book is straight forward and simple but provides a wonderful and inspiring message about love and care. The illustrations and easy sentences make it both fun and engaging for young readers.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a beautifully illustrated book demonstrating the different ways animals and humans attract mates. I enjoyed all of the mating facts featured all the animals the end of the book. Knowledgeable and beautiful. I can’t wait to read to the little ones.

Thank you NetGalley And Quatro publishing for the Arc in exchange for an honest opinion

This book is very beautiful and I enjoy the animal facts that are included in it. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital review copy.

I love everything about Ways to Say I Love You. It's a feel-good story that is fun to read. Each page is brightly colored with beautiful illustrations and each spread is divided into two sections... one section for animals... the other section for people. As a mother, I would have no problem with letting my children read this. As a teacher, not-so-much. To me, there is nothing wrong with this book. Some people would disagree with me, however. Parents don't who don't like children's books that show hugging, cuddling, hand-holding, dancing, etc. or the word 'mate' should stay away from it. For that reason... and that reason only... I would not use it in my classroom... just to avoid having parents getting upset with me.

Kelly Wilson
Teacher / Blogger
www.kellysclassroomonline.com

Progressive in nature - not geared for children to be children. The only interesting part was on how animals attract each other. Science at its best (sarcasm). Needs to be tagged as LGBQT.

A Special thank you to Quarto Publishing and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to post an honest review

Full of vibrant color, this picture book explores the different ways animal species find mates and express love. The watercolor illustrations beautifully evoke Gaugin in their colors and style. I expected this to be about expressions of love more generally, but it's clearly focused on partnership love. It's visually alluring and I can see it appealing to animal lovers. This could also be a great choice for Valentine's Day and/or a springboard into more nonfiction books about animals.

This was a beautifully illustrated book demonstrating the ways animals and humans attract mates. I loved all of the animal mating facts featured at the end of the book. Knowledgeable and beautiful.

Thank you NetGalley for the DRC.

Pictures are cute and colorful. I love the little facts at the end for the critters. Me kiddos like those too.

The best thing about this book, for me, was Alette Straathof's wonderful illustrations. Both my child and I really enjoyed them and found ourselves more interested in them than the story itself.

I feel like the odd one out among a sea of high ratings, but the story was awkward and outdated. I found the description of the book to be quite misleading to what was actually contained within the pages. It's described as 'celebrating all the ways creatures on our planet say I Love You'. To me, in a children's picture book, I anticipated reading something more tender and sweet.

The opening line is "It's the truth. There's no debate. Every creature wants a mate.>" and the image depicted is a group of young kids at school. I cringed reading it.

The book was very heteronormative, all the text was strictly referencing boy-girl, so I wouldn't give this one much points for inclusiveness. All the images were depicting romantic partnerships rather than ways to say we love the people in our lives. I wish it had been more about general love instead of focused on "mating". It just felt odd particularly for the age group this is intended for. It's not one we will add to our own personal library.

My rating: ★★★☆☆ (strictly for illustrations)
My child's rating: (￣。￣)～ｚｚｚ (she did not enjoy)
Would we read again?: no
Would we recommend to others?: no

Lovely book and a great addition to a child’s library. Thank you to NetGalley and the oublisher for an advanced e-arc.

This may be the most gorgeous children’s book our family has come across. We love the message, the art, and the inclusive humans in the books so much that we have our own physical copy on the way. This book is a perma-read that will be in our nighttime rotation for years to come. There are unknown ways to say I love this book.

The beautiful illustrations and comparisons of ways humans and animals show love make this a gentle and calming read. So many negative emotions are out in the world now that little ones can use all of the reassurance they can get. The colors used make it good for setting a bedtime mood.

"Ways to Say I Love You" is a children's book about how creatures, like humans show their affection. The illustrations were beautiful but I felt the rhyming of the story was a little off and could have been improved.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Ways to Say I Love You is a compare and contrast picture book. Each page compares people to an animal. In the story, they are showing how different animals show I love you and how that is similar to an animal in the wild. It compares people to snakes or swans. I thought the illustrations were really striking.

Ways to Say I Love You is a book in verse that talks and shows how different people and animals say and show that they love each other. We see examples such as delivering flowers, dancing, spreading feathers, making music, etc. The back of the book contains more information about how animals show affection to each other.

The illustrations in this book are great and I absolutely adore them. They're bright, vibrant, and you can see them transition as you go through the book. There was also a nice diversity in human couples shown in the book including LGBTQ+ and multicultural which is something I love to see.

The rhymes were simple and cute and I think a young child would like them. One thing I did notice is that for the most part, the book didn't specifically say a gender, it was always folks, person, or human. However, there was a time where it said "boys and girls hold hands" and while there is a picture on the page of 2 boys holding hands as well as a boy and a girl, the book never said anything about 2 girls or 2 boys. It may have to do with the rhyming and it might not have worked but if this is the case I kinda wish the author would've just stuck to the terms they were already using. There was another part where it says "every creature wants a mate" and a child might not think anything of this but I thought this was a weird way to put it. Again, it may have to do with the rhymes and that the book is about love but I don't think someone has to find or want a mate.

If you're not too worried about the specifics of the wording, I think this would be a great book, you could read it around Valentine's Day since the premise of the book is love.

This is a delightful, loving, little book.

First things first, I loved loved loved the illustrations and how diversity in the human couples was taken into account. I think any kid would enjoy seeing the different ways animals show affection to each other and learning more about it with the explanations given in the last couple pages.

On top of being an adorable, say-yes-to-love book, it also gives children the chance to learn something new (without really being conscious of it).

This appealingly illustrated picture book shows some of the many ways that animals and people demonstrate their love and care for one another. The text is rhyming which should appeal to its young audience.

Children will see everything from people dancing, to peacocks spreading their fans, to frogs puffing up and people holding hands. The simple story shows the importance of connection and caring.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

Ways to say i love you is a cute children's book exploring proclamations of love. I really enjoyed that it used animals and humans. I bet kids will love to see how different animals show affection. I also liked the diversity in the human couples.

From humans to bugs, how do you find a mate? Hugs or waltzes, notes or songs? This books explores many ways that creatures and humans alike say "I love you". With gorgeous illustrations and a sweet message, this book will delight parents and children alike.