I’ve been counting down my favorite new picture books of 2018 all month and have not hit number 1. “Love” by Matt de la Peña and illustrated by Loren Long.

Learning social and emotional skills is one of the big buzz topics in early childhood education. Often, that focus is about how to deal with negative emotions. But what about positive emotions? How often do we stop to think and learn about love in our classrooms. Love is actually hard to define but Matt de la Peña’s words and Loren Long’s illustration show all the ways love surrounds us. The love between families. The love between people and their city. The love between people and nature. That love that manifest itself during tragedy and sadness. The love of music. Love for yourself and more. I don’t want to try to describe the book too much because my writing ability can’t capture the beauty in this book. I’ll end with saying you will love this book and it is one of the most profound things you will read whether you are a young child or adult that came out this year.