Yours 'Til the Ice Cracks: A Book of Valentines

Hearts appear in most unexpected places in this slight but artsy Valentine's Day volume. More of an expanded greeting card than a book, and clearly aimed at an older audience, it pairs a dozen zippy holiday messages (``Be my valentine. Yours 'til the cows come home'') with Baruffi's inventive watercolors--in this case, a cowboy whose lariat forms an arrow-pierced heart ropes a herd of cattle into the shape of a heart. Baruffi's images run the gamut historically and geographically (a dinosaur emerges from a heart-shaped pit; a single palm sprouts in a heart-shaped desert oasis), and the common thread is formed by two sweethearts, appropriately garbed for each setting--ice skates; chaps and western shirts--who take turns ``sending'' each other the visual valentines. There's nothing much here for the younger set to sink their teeth into, but the book would go nicely with a box of candy. All ages. (Jan.)