How to Say I Love You: Delightful Poems for Valentine’s Day

Gr 3-6–Unlike this book’s predecessor, ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, which is an illustrated version of the classic poem, this book is a combination of classic love poems and new verses. Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s “Sonnet 43” (“How do I love thee?/ Let me count the ways.”) and Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 18” (“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) are a page turn from “Teddy bear, where’s the postage stamp?/ And I need to find my shoe,/ Let’s skip to the postbox down the street,/ To mail this card to our pal in the zoo!” One spread has Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “Love’s Philosophy,” which is about a person desperate for a kiss, on one side, while an original poem on the opposite page sings the praises of a panda’s skating skills. The accompanying illustrations for both of these poems show animals ice skating in odd outfits. The ice skating panda poem has nothing to do with love. While the famous love poems are all intense, the new poems are fluffy and insipid. The chasm of quality is evident.