I really cannot say more about You Are the Loveliest than what the publisher said. It is “A translated book of poems for children that explore life, love, and feeling from a child’s perspective, with accompanying illustrations”
Though I know I need to.
The Hagens have created poetry (which is translated by David Colmer) in an old school-old fashioned tone. These are poems sound as if your grandparents had read them when they were children. Yet, the book is publisher 2022 (I cannot see if it was published before in the Netherlands).
The poems have a nursery rhyme affect, tone, and style. None of them “jumped out at me” but they are all pleasant to read. It is even a book I would not mind reading again. And I would enjoy reading a few to a child as an anytime read or bedtime read. It is the illustrations that truly grabbed me. Not only does Marit Tornqvist create art that compliments and enhances the text but has a “life” of its own.
Soft, vibrant colors are splashed across the pages, coving and hiding and showing the details you will find. Minimalistic, simple, but not simplistic, and at the same time busy and lush, these illustrations can be read on their own.
While all age groups can be read to, this is probably best for the five to seven crowd, as there is not a lot of traditional action and are traditional sounding poems. The lullaby/nursery rhyme feeling makes this a good bedtime read.
I am really getting into the books by the publisher Levine Querido, even if I am not 100% loving them, they are great books to experience, and You Are the Loveliest falls into that category.
