This Kiss Never Misses

Happy Valentine's Day! This post will be up too late for a 2012 Valentine's surprise, but it's never too late for a good book. The Kiss that Missed by David Melling is my Valentine storytime go-to title. The illustrations are fantastic and full of detail, the story is sweet (without being too heavy-handed on the moral), and there are lots of little surprises along the way--with a few giggles thrown in (drooling bears make for great join-in fun!). I've given more copies of this book than perhaps any other children's picture book (with the exception of Miss Rumphius by Barbara Cooney--a blog for another day). Both boys and girls will love this not-too-pink story of kings and queens and knights and one errant kiss.

As a side note, I'm considering throwing the occasional big-kid (i.e. adult) novel into the review mix. I've read a few brilliantly-written books lately, and feel they deserve some time. I am constantly surprised and amazed that the world has not run out of unique ideas; that writers are born every day, and with them come stories we've never heard. Happy reading!

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