All Heart! Little Miss Valentine by Roger Hargreaves

Little Miss Valentine is all heart --REALLY.

LITTLE MISS VALENTINE HAD ONE DAY A YEAR WHEN SHE WAS TERRIFICALLY BUSY.

From her center of operations in Cupid's Cottage, she manages the distribution and delivery of Valentines all around the world. Santa has a sleigh, but Little Miss Valentine sails her heart-shaped hot-air balloon through the sky, dropping Valentine cards in their envelopes which always find the right mailbox as if by magic.

And her Valentines are especially designed for each individual.

LITTLE MISS SCARY'S CARD JUMPED OUT FROM THE PAGE WHEN SHE OPENED IT!

Little Miss Valentine thought hers was the best job in the whole world--but not this year!

Chaos was a real possibility. Imagine what could happen if MR. QUIET got the Valentine made for MR. NOISE?

Who you gonna call?

It's Little Miss Hug to the rescue in Roger Hargreaves' Little Miss Valentine (Mr. Men and Little Miss) (Grosset and Dunlap, 2019). With her cute red braids and her bright smile drawn by Adam Hargreaves, it looks like Little Miss Valentine and her friend will make sure that Valentines find their mailboxes again this year!

Looking for Love: There's This Thing by Connah Brecon

IT'S ALL...

AND....

I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IT BETTER, BUT I'M NOT VERY BRAVE.

When the girl thinks about it, she imagines a fizzy bottle of soda pop overflowing, and when she imagines it, she knows it will be something like how she feels when she hugs her cat.

Our girl is looking for love, and at first she is looking for love in all the wrong places.

She leaves a trail of crumbs, and a hungry, honking goose finds her. She sets a deadfall trap with a stick and a box, but what she catches is a very disgruntled bear.

She makes her way down Hope Street, and stops in front of the KEY SHOP, wondering what will open up all the thoughts in her heart.

Dejected, she sits down on a bench, certain that she'll never find what she needs.

And then a boy, who has been watching her from afar, sits down beside her and solemnly hands her a heart-shaped balloon.

"MAY I?" HE ASKS.

It's a perfect happy ending for Valentine's Day, in Connah Brecon's There's This Thing (Philomel Books, 2014), which tells readers that sometimes love just finds you. Brecon's illustration are delicate, with the focus on his main character, except for certain pages which offer hints for the reader of what his little character seeks. A quiet story that requires a bit of mulling over, this one is a different take on all the fuss over Valentine's Day.

Heart-Hater: A Crankenstein Valentine by Samantha Berger

YOU CAN'T MISS CRANKENSTEIN ON VALENTINE'S DAY.

YOU WOULD SAY "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY, MY LOVE!"

CRANKENSTEIN WOULD SAY "YEEECHHHH!"

How do you change HATER TO HEART?

No, it's not one of those tedious schoolroom word jumbles. It is the story of a little boy who find Valentine's Day downright repulsive. You, dear reader, know that Crankenstein is no fan of hearts and flowers as soon as you open the book. The opening endpapers feature candy hearts that say GAAK!, SCRAM, YUCK, and I'VE SEEN BETTER!

Crankenstein's face is already monster green. His mom's warm greeting and red-ribbon-wrapped gift makes him cringe when he sees its contents--heart-printed tightie whities. She also makes him carry a bouquet of fresh-cut roses to his teacher. YEEECHHHH!

The day only gets worse. On the school bus someone plants a big red smooch on his kisser. His lunch juice box says "Love Potion." He has to make stinky, pinky paper chains to decorate the classroom. He even has to play Cupid, complete with cute little wings and bow and arrow, in the Valentine's Day program. So by the time art class rolls around and the kids begin to make Valentines for their secret crushes, Crankenstein has just the rhyme in mind for his:

ROSES ARE RED,
VIOLETS ARE BLUE
VALENTINE'S DAY STINKS!
P.U.

Then comes the potentially worst moment of the day when a certain girl hands him her handmade Valentine. He's got his biggest YEEECHHHH! of the day ready,... until he reads it.

ROSES ARE RED,
VIOLETS ARE BLUE.
ON VALENTINE'S DAY
I FEEL JUST LIKE YOU!
EWWWW!

Crankenstein's face turns a bit pink as he senses a similarly minded soulmate, in Samantha Berger's A Crankenstein Valentine (Little, Brown and Company, 2014). Again partnered with illustrator Dan Santat, ably channeling his inner monster, Berger uses her story to give those lovey-dovey-day resisters a voice, even if it is a Yeeechhhh screech! Santat's Crankenstein is back again, representing those numerous nay-sayers of that holiday that turns some kids into cranks. But perhaps there's a hint of a change of heart for our little anti-hero to be found in the closing endpapers--candy hearts that say BE MINE, CALL ME, YAY YOU! and XOXO!

Berger and Santat's first book together was Crankenstein (Little Brown and Company, 2013). (Read my cranky review here.)