Love

When Tess, a girl with black wavy hair and light skin, must attend school, she’s scared that the golden string of love that she perceives connecting her to her family won’t stretch far enough. Her teacher offers comfort (“Tess noticed a little thread between them”), and soon Tess befriends a boy named Harry and begins to perceive people’s varying connections. But when her mother is late for pickup, Tess fears the bond’s rupture until Mommy arrives with a soothing explanation. Employing the familiar metaphor of love as a string that stretches between loved ones, Averiss adds her own touch with graceful, lightly figurative language (“When Tess visited Granny and Gramps’s house, the love she had left there last time was still safe inside,” one page reads, the fondness visualized as a golden glow). Beautyman’s illustrations are warm and textural, with heartstrings visualized in sweeping loops. A reassuring read for those with separation anxiety. Ages 4–6. (Jan.)