Heart to Heart ANNOTATION
Upset that he has forgotten a valentine for his friend Mole, Squirrel starts to make a fancy card but discovers a better gift.
FROM THE PUBLISHER
Oh no! It's Valentine's Day and Squirrel forgot to get a card for his best friend, Mole. Run for paper, glitter, lace, and lights! But as he searches for the scissors, Squirrel discovers much more and makes Mole a gift that only Squirrel could create. Children who love to give -- and receive -- will happily follow Squirrel as he makes his one-of-a-kind valentine that shows what gifts and friendship are really about.
FROM THE CRITICS
Children's Literature - Michelle H. Martin
When Squirrel gets a Valentine from Mole saying he's bringing a cake over for them to share, Squirrel panics, realizing that he has forgotten to get a Valentine for Mole. After several failed attempts at making a fancy card with ribbons, yarn, crepe paper and confetti, Squirrel finally resorts to building Mole's gifts out of common memorabilia from several of their trips together. Touched by this thoughtful gesture of friendship, Mole spends a pleasant evening with Squirrel, eating cake and recalling stories from their past that "nobody knows but us." The energetic water color and pen and ink illustrations contribute to the fast pace of the story and reflect Squirrel's eagerness to please his long-time friend. Although Shannon's overuse of sentence fragments like "Wait. Better yet" get monotonous, his message in this story is a relevant one for a materialistic culture such as ours: simple, homemade gifts often give more joy to the receiver than fancy or expensive ones.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-As in Seeds (Houghton, 1994), this author-illustrator team has captured a friendship glowing with warmth and creativity. When Squirrel pulls Mole's giant Valentine from his snowy mailbox, he realizes that he has forgotten this special day. Panic-stricken, he races around collecting art supplies, planning a more and more elaborate Valentine. As with many an aspiring artist, Squirrel is stymied when he loses his scissors. In the process of looking for them, he finds one of Mole's mittens and various other mementos of their times together, and he is back in high gear. He runs from room to room, gluing each souvenier in place. As the story progresses, readers see Mole's steady progress across the snow, informing them that Squirrel is running out of time. Mole's slow plodding provides an interesting contrast to Squirrel's frenetic activity and is a telling detail about the ``opposites attract'' aspect of their friendship. The pals spend a pleasant afternoon by the fire, eating cake and telling ``all the stories nobody knows but us.'' A Valentine story about friendship is much more satisfying than those that try to bring adult themes of ``true love'' to a child's level. Shannon's tale may inspire children to document their memories of their own special relationships.-Lisa S. Murphy, formerly at Dauphin County Library System, Harrisburg, PA
BookList - Ellen Mandel
A valentine from his best friend, Mole, propels Squirrel into a frenzy of activity. Mole not only sent a card, but he also is on his way over with a cake to celebrate their friendship, though Squirrel completely forgot about Valentine's Day. With Bjx9a rkman's pen and paintbrush racing to keep up, Squirrel ravages his house in search of crayons, paper, ribbons, glitter, whatever it will take to prepare a spectacular card for Mole. Stalled when he can't find his scissors, Squirrel has a brainstorm. Snatching instead a pack of seeds, a postcard, a purple button, a stick that resembles a snake, and more odds and ends, Squirrel glues together a collage of memorabilia of the many good times the two pals have shared--thus creating a unique valentine that deeply touches Mole. Frustration, exhilaration, exasperation, and inspiration are all conveyed with charm and humor, as caring sentiment and thoughtfulness emerge from the clutter of Squirrel's preparations.
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