Synopsis
With comforting simplicity and gentle rhythms, Ruth Krauss celebrates the expansiveness of love between a parent and a child. In Steven Kellogg's luminous illustrations, a cat and her kitten discover the excitement and intimacy of sharing stories. As the pages turn and the landscapes evolve from forests to fields to sweeping ocean vistas, the tender bond that unites the cat and her kitten is deepened and enriched, making And I Love You an enchanting gift that will warm hearts both big and little.
With comforting simplicity and gentle rhythms, Ruth Krauss celebrates the expansiveness of love between a parent and a child. In Steven Kellogg's luminous illustrations, a cat and her kitten discover the excitement and intimacy of sharing stories. As the pages turn and the landscapes evolve from forests to fields to sweeping ocean vistas, the tender bond that unites the cat and her kitten is deepened and enriched, making And I Love You an enchanting gift that will warm hearts both big and little.
Publishers Weekly
Kellogg (The Pied Piper's Magic) offers a jubilant interpretation of this deceptively simple story by the late Krauss, originally published in 1987 as Big and Little. Through light-infused and highly textural paintings that feature a brilliant palette, Kellogg presents a paean to parent-child love, nature, and the imagination-unleashing power of books. As a mother cat and her kitten explore the natural world, the mother carries a book, its pages and cover changing to mirror, on a smaller scale, their surroundings: forest, field, sea, and sky. On the surface, the notion of opposite sizes drives the understated, free-form narrative ("big forests love little trees; big seas love little shells; big stories love little words to fly around in"). Expansive scenes of a turbulent sea or a slightly frightening city at night alternate with closeup images of mother and son, cementing the message of reassurance at the heart of the story. Kellogg cleverly integrates books into his artwork; they become archways on a forest path, a sailboat, and city buildings. A welcome revival of this gem of a tale. Ages 1 4. (Oct.)