Oh my gosh, you guys. I just love when I find a book that is an absolute keeper. One of those books that you fall in love with the second it hits your hands. And, the best part? It’s perfect timing for Valentine’s Day!

I’ve gushed about Last Stop on Market Street by Matthew de la Pena before. Winner of the Newbery Medal, Last Stop on Market Street is one of my all-time favorite picture books. I’ve given it as a gift too many times to count!

Now, Matthew de la Pena is back with a brand-new book and you’re going to want to make sure your library has this one!

Celebrate Valentine’s Day with Play and an Incredible Book to Read Aloud!

*Disclosure: I received ‘Love’ by Matthew de la Pena at no cost. I was not required to write a review, nor was I compensated. I only share resources that I would use with my own family. This post is also part of a monthly series featuring how we use Spielgaben in our homeschool. All thoughts and opinions are my own. You can read my review of Spielgaben here.

‘Love’ by Matthew de la Pena is the perfect Valentine’s Day book!

By now, I am sure you are used to seeing my Coffee and Books photos.

Well, you’ll notice this photo features tea:

I drink coffee in the morning and tea in the afternoon. And when UPS delivered this gem of a book to our home, it was the afternoon. I usually save new books for the next morning’s Coffee and Books, buuuuut…

I read it immediately, and that meant coffee and tea!

We read Love every single day for an entire week. It’s one of those books you keep going back to again and again!

(And I still can’t read the book without tearing up!)

Featuring a collection of examples of the many ways humans experience love, along with gorgeous illustrations, this is a book that you won’t soon forget.

Love is a super-sweet book that your family will treasure.

It is the perfect read-aloud for Valentine’s Day, the perfect gift for a loved one, the perfect addition to your family’s bookshelf. It will delight young and old and will fuel fantastic and important conversations.

Love is: Hugs for free!

I love when fantastic books fuel Brave Writer “Big, Juicy Conversations”

After reading Love, my children and I had the best conversations!

(If you follow the Brave Writer Lifestyle, as we do, you call these types of conversations “Big, Juicy Conversations” and you treasure them!)

This book inspired such great thought, insight, and compassion for others.

We took our Big, Juicy Conversation to the next level by sharing what love means to us, and writing these thoughts down on post-it notes.

How perfectly Brave Writer of us! Julie Bogart would be proud!

Love is: fluffy puppies!

Take your read-aloud to the next level with Valentine’s Day play!

We had such a wonderful time discussing what love means to us, that I wanted to keep the conversation going.

In our home, I rely heavily on play to take learning one step further.

After all, play is the language of childhood!

I wanted to create a play invitation based on Matthew de la Pena’s new book, Love.

And I have the perfect, irresistible play-based resource: Spielgaben!

(Psst! Spielgaben has a special offer for My Little Poppies readers so please keep reading to the end of this article!)

I simply asked the kiddos if they would like to show what love means to them using Spielgaben. They took the idea and ran with it!

They each grabbed a handful of post-it notes from our Love poster and then used Spielgaben to create a scene based on the post-it.

In our house, we love music, sunshine, and tea!

We also love puppies, past and present. (I love that Finnegan was remembered here!)

I swear, when it comes to Spielgaben, the possibilities truly are endless. It’s so easy to make any topic educational with this set. And you don’t even need an invitation- my children make the coolest things when they free play with the set!

Here’s a special offer for My Little Poppies readers…

Love Valentine’s Day?

Check out these related articles:

• Valentine’s Day Bird Cookies
• Nope, I Didn’t Help My Kids With Their Valentine’s Day Cards

Learn more about Spielgaben

Please read my review of Spielgaben here:

• Using Spielgaben in Your Homeschool
• Create Your Own Fidget Factory Using Spielgaben
• Super-Simple Hands-On Flag Study
• Hands-On Animal Study with Spielgaben
• Study the Four Seasons with Books, Play, and Spielgaben
• A Simple World Monuments Study with Books, Games, and Spielgaben!
• Challenge Kids to Get Creative with Awesome Homemade Games
• How to Make Snow Days Fun and Educational

You can follow Spielgaben on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Now, it’s your turn. Tell me: Do you have a favorite Valentine’s Day book or activity? Share here!

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Caitlin Fitzpatrick Curley

Cait is a school psychologist, mom to three amazing children, and an unexpected homeschooler. She loves nature, good books, board games, strong coffee, and dancing in her kitchen. You can read about all of these things and more at My Little Poppies.

Cait co-hosts The Homeschool Sisters Podcast and is co-founder of Raising Poppies, a community for parents of gifted and twice-exceptional children. Cait is also founder of the Family Book Club at My Little Poppies, a fantastic community of book-loving parents and the Gameschool Community at My Little Poppies, a vibrant community of gameschoolers.

Cait is a contributing writer for Simple Homeschool and GeekMom. Her work has also appeared on The Huffington Post, The Mighty, and Scary Mommy. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram
and G+.

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