Heart-y Reading: Ruby Valentine Saves the Day by Laurie Friedman

RUBY HAD A FAVORITE DAY.

IT CAME 'ROUND ONCE A YEAR.

AS SHE SETTLED IN TO HER NEW HOUSE,

VALENTINE'S DAY WAS DRAWING NEAR.

True to her name, Ruby Valentine lives for that holiday, and as the big day draws near, she and her pet cockatoo, Lovebird, plan their party--dressing up her new house with fresh pink curtains, sending out pink and red invitations to everyone in the town below her hilltop house, and baking pink-frosted goodies. Ruby thinks of everything, it seems--except checking the weather forecast.

Alas, on the morning of February 14, she wakes to find the world blanketed in deep snow. No one can possibly make it up the icy hill for her party!

But if the party-goers can't come to the mountain-top party, Ruby will bring the party to them. Ruby is a resourceful holiday hostess, and loading her sled with her party favors and goodies, she sleds speedily downhill to bring Valentine's Day to the townspeople below.

But party-pooping disaster strikes again. Unseen by Ruby, her goodies have blown off the sled in her rapid descent, and she arrives, ready to party but without her carefully prepared party paraphernalia. Will there be no Valentine's Day for Ruby Valentine?

Not to worry, for in Laurie Friedman's latest, Ruby Valentine Saves the Day (Carolrhoda Picture Books) (2010), there's a flash mob event already taking place in the little town below, where the residents spontaneously pool their own goodies and celebrate, complete with bonfires and marsmallow roasts on the village square in honor of Ruby's favorite day. Lynne Avril lends her cheery cartoon-style illustrations and bright Valentine's Day palette to make these festivities, well, february festive in this sequel to the popular Love, Ruby Valentine. Light and fluffy as the frosting on Ruby's pink-topped cupcakes, this rhyming tale makes for a nice storytime readaloud for kids who love doing their own Valentine's Day fixin's. Pair it with Herman Parish's Amelia Bedelia's First Valentine, also illustrated by Lynne Avril, for double-dip Valentine's Day fun.