Valentine’s Day with Snowman Paul by Yossi Lapid

Sooooo, it’s nearly Valentine’s Day. Are you ready? Do you celebrate with hearts and roses or, perhaps, you do the “galentine” thing with your friends? Me? Nothing. For nearly 50 years I have despised this day, this month, like a curse on my existence. Name something horrific that can happen to someone and I can assure you that it has happened to me on this day. HOWEVER – that is a really huge HOWEVER – this year a dear author and someone I’ve come to call friend sent me a book all about this day that I despise and it has changed my entire week, my month and, dare I say, outlook? Valentine’s Day with Snowman Paul is a simple and yet profound look at the true meaning of love. What is love asks a snowman who believes he has no feelings…. As Paul discovers, love is so many different things to each and every one of us. It can be family, it can be someone special, it can our love of SNOW, most importantly it can be our friends who come along just when we need them the most.

This is, as always, a marvelously written children’s story and the children in my life (including myself) loved it. We have read and reread it multiple times. Joanna Pasek has created beautiful illustrations that capture the imagination of all who look upon them and lend so much enrichment to the book. I simply cannot recommend this book highly enough to any and all who have young children or to those who may need a bit of a lift this holiday.

Yossi, thank you for your gift of friendship. Your love continues to make this world a better place for us all.