44°F
weather icon Mostly Clear

Kids will love gross gifts in ‘Mr. Goat’s Valentine’

Be Mine, Valentine.

Surrounded by pink and red hearts, that’s what the card said, and it came from your best classroom friend. Another Valentine is from your teacher, and you got one from a kid you know on the bus. Everybody gets Valentines on V-Day, but in the new book “Mr. Goat’s Valentine” by Eve Bunting, illustrated by Kevin Zimmer, some are more special than others.

The headline in the Goat Times was a big one. How could Mr. Goat miss it? It was Valentine’s Day, and he had to find something really super-special for his first love. She surely deserved it. He wanted to tell her how much she meant to him, so Mr. Goat put on his big straw hat and headed out.

He didn’t go far before he came to Miss Nanny Goat’s “weed stall.”

Among the flowers and plants, Miss Nanny Goat had the perfect bouquet for Mr. Goat to give his first love. Everything was presented beautifully in a rusty, dented tin can — sticky weeds, ugly weeds, pigweed, ragweed and crabgrass — and he knew his first love would enjoy that. She was quite “fond of a ragweed salad,” and rusty cans were yummy when you salted them.

Mr. Goat’s nose took him to the next place on his journey: Mr. Pygmy-Little Goat was offering smelly rotten eggs for sale. “Guaranteed foul and disgusting,” he promised, so how could Mr. Goat resist? He couldn’t, so he bought four of them.

There were other stalls nearby, but Mr. Goat wanted to hurry … until he came across Miss Skunk’s pretty pink perfume cart. Being helpful, she spritzed Mr. Goat with her special perfume so he’d smell wonderful for his first love. As he walked away, she reminded him that he needed a Valentine card to go with the weeds and the rotten eggs.

After walking a while, Mr. Goat began to think: Maybe he did need a card to go with everything else, but where would he get one? And if he couldn’t get one, what else could he do? What would his first love think?

Awww, who needs chocolates and roses when you can have stinkweed and rotten eggs for V-Day? Who wants a bunch of sappy cards? Your child surely doesn’t — especially when “Mr. Goat’s Valentine” is already so darn sweet.

And yet, this book isn’t sugary-smoochy. Bunting and Zimmer instead allow your child to laugh at Mr. Goat’s taste in food and gifts. There’s a definite sense of “eeewww” here (maybe even about mushy-gushy love in general), but it’s there without giving the slightest hint of who that “first love” might be or what she may think of the wonderful gifts. By the time you get to the end of this book, I think you’ll both be charmed.

Kids ages 4 to 7 will get the giggles from this book, which makes it a just-right substitute for candy in this month of amour. One look at “Mr. Goat’s Valentine,” and your child will want it to be hers.

— View publishes Terri Schlichenmeyer’s reviews of books for children weekly.

Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
MORE STORIES
THE LATEST
Former homeless Las Vegas teen spotlights ongoing issue

“I consider myself lucky because I had a backpack,” he said at a TED Talk in June in Traverse City, Michigan. “And because along the way I found some of the most beautiful, compassionate and courageous people that not only helped me through this time but who have left a lasting impression stamped on my heart.”

Robert Hoge’s memoir ‘Ugly’ is beautiful

You’re having a bad hair day. You feel fat in those jeans. And you’ll never complain again, once you’ve read “Ugly” by Robert Hoge.

‘Cool Nature’ will help young scientists feel smart

Just by looking at them, you can tell what kind of rocks they are and where they came from. You also know a little about biology,astronomy and what makes you tick, so why not learn more by reading “Cool Nature” by Amy-Jane Beer?

‘Cool Nature’ will help young scientists feel smart

Just by looking at them, you can tell what kind of rocks they are and where they came from. You also know a little about biology,astronomy and what makes you tick, so why not learn more by reading “Cool Nature” by Amy-Jane Beer?

Kids will love creeping through the pages of ’Frightlopedia’

Ever since your child has been young, (s)he’s known that you’d be around for comfort when things got too scary. Well, stand by.What’s inside “Frightlopedia” may still leave you on sentry duty.

New Berkeley Breathed book will charm all ages

I have no socks. Author Berkley Breathed just charmed them off me. Kids will love the colorfully wild illustrations and the basic tale of love and friendship in “The Bill the Cat Story.” They’ll appreciate Bill’s underwear and his goofy “ack.”

Engage teen curiosity with ‘Unlock the Weird!’

While parts of it may be disturbing to wee ones, trivia-loving kids ages 12 to adult will pick this book, for sure. When enjoying “Ripley’s Believe It or Not! Unlock the Weird!” curiosity is key.

Summer tall-tale adventure relies on illustrations to spin story

Lies, liars, lying. Your child has undoubtedly heard those words lately on the news, and he knows better, right? But, sometimes, embellishment is oh-so-tempting, and “The Truth about My Unbelievable Summer” is a perfect example.