Heart-y Reading: Valentine Books to Warm Your Heart

If you're looking for a fast and funny February 14 story for beginning chapter book readers or for a read-aloud occasion, there's one rodent who reports for duty in Geronimo Stilton: Valentine's Day Disaster (Geronimo Stilton) It's February 14, and Geronimo is prepared to party on the big day, but he awakes late, finds nary a Valentine in his mailbox, and discovers his office empty, with not a single employee around to get out his newspaper, The Rodent Gazette. Somehow Geronimo intuits that his nemesis and publishing rival, Sally Ratmousen, is behind the nefarious business problems. Valentine's Day is a disaster!

Enter a charming lady mouse, Cheesy Lou Sweetsnout, girl cowmouse, a vision in cowboy boots and Stetson hat, who calls up an army of cow friends, including 100 cowmouse hands to deliver the news. Disasters continue to pile up: Geronimo's house is stinky with sewage seepage, the baker cancels his order for Valentine goodies, the band booked for the bash is stuck in an airport, and his klutzy Cousin Trap sits on and squashes the substitute snacks. No problem for Cheesy Lou. With her friends Cheesy Lee, Cheesy Lynn, and Toughrat McBeefy, she whips up a huge heart-shaped pizza, strikes up the banjo and fiddle for some Western boot-scootin', er, mouse-ic, and manages to make the mousely most of Valentine's Day after all. The book's backmatter includes a section, "How to Organize a Valentine's Day Party," which offers tips for crafting Valentines, choosing food, decorations, and party games, and illustrated directions for Western dancing, There's even a collection of riddles for "Geronimo's Joke Contest."

It's as light and fluffy as marshmallow whip and as goes down as easily as a chocolate heart. With the series' trademark kid-pleasing layout of varied colored fonts and comic illustrations of the various mouse characters, Geronimo Stilton: Valentine's Day Disaster (Geronimo Stilton) is a perky little party favor for the big day.

For deeper belly laughs, though, one of the best of the beginning chapter Valentine's Day confections is Junie B. Jones and the Mushy Gushy Valentine (Junie B. Jones, Book 14). Now, Valentine's Day is serious business for elementary schoolers, and although she provides the usual laugh a minute, Barbara Park sees through the froth to the heartfelt threat to self confidence that this holiday holds for children.

At her class party, Junie B. is crestfallen when she gets fewer "Valentimes" than her friends "richie Lucille" and "that Grace." Then, her teacher discovers an undelivered card at the bottom of the box, addressed to Junie. In fact, it is a rather lavish, ruffly Valentine from an anonymous admirer. There are several boys in her class that she likes, Paulie Allen Puffer, for example--but this mushy, gushy momento seems more serious than silly. When Junie B. sneaks back into the classroom to do some sleuthing during recess, she meets up with the last boy she would ever suspect of being her secret cupid. Yet it's someone who knows her at her best and worst and still admires the fun and zest she brings to their classroom. Not only do the laughs come from the belly, but in this hearty tribute to the spirit of the holiday, they also come from the heart.