The Love that Grew is a sort of picture book / pre-schooler take on Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poem ‘How Do I Love Thee?’ which begins How do I love thee? Let me count the ways…

An ode to a mother’s love and to families, it explores different ways to describe the indescribable, with sweet illustrations by debut picture book illustrator Mimi Purnell.

I thought I could not love another,
not a sister, nor a brother.
But just like magic, my love then grew
when I was blessed with more of you.
It stretched as high as the beanstalk climbed by Jack:
impossible to measure, and hard to track.
A feeling that was both fierce and strong
and the-longest-noodle-you-can-think-of-long.

The Love that Grew

This would be perfect picture book for a little one expecting a new brother or sister. Mums and Dads find that, while time can be difficult to share around with a new baby, love is different – there is usually plenty to go around no matter how many new siblings arrive. The rhyming couplets lend themselves well to read-aloud sessions – just right for snuggling; baby, toddler, book and parent together.

The Love that Grew is published by HarperCollins Children’s Books in March 2022.
My thanks to the publishers for a review copy.